Meaning
Temporal coordination involves the matching of heart rates, breathing patterns, hormonal levels and skin conductance between individuals in a social group. In the professional life of a founder, somatic synchronization occurs during face-to-face interactions where the calm or stress of one person is mirrored by another. Biological links of this kind function as a subconscious channel for the transmission of social information.
Biological Mirroring
Specialized neurons in the brain facilitate the imitation of the physical states observed in others. When a leader remains calm under pressure, the team may experience a corresponding drop in their own heart rates. Process of somatic synchronization helps to stabilize the group during periods of high tension.
Coordination relies on physical proximity and clear non-verbal communication to be effective.
Energy Efficiency
Aligning physiological states reduces the overall cost of regulation for the individuals involved. A synchronized group can act with greater cohesion and less friction than a collection of uncoupled individuals. Shared states of this kind allow for a more efficient distribution of attention and effort across the team.
Alignment essentially lowers the metabolic cost of maintaining a high-performance environment.
Communication Limit
Distortion happens when the signals being synchronized are negative or chaotic. If a founder is constantly in a state of high anxiety, somatic synchronization will spread that stress to the entire workforce. This creates a feedback loop of panic that can disable an organization’s ability to function.