186. WE Explorer Belai on Leading Without Words: Art, Rhythm, and Connection

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In this episode, Julia speaks with Belai, a young changemaker and artist, about the power of leading without words.

Belai shares how she uses traditional art forms like music, dance, and weaving as leadership tools to connect people, shift energy, and ground communities in shared purpose. From playing the sape (a traditional healing instrument) to leading communal dances and weaving circles, she shows how leadership can transcend language barriers and invite deeper connection.

She also speaks candidly about the risks of relying too much on words, the burnout young activists face, and the importance of replenishing energy to sustain change-making over the long run.

Listen to discover how leadership can be quiet yet powerful—an invitation, a rhythm, a flow of energy that unites people and sustains movements.

About the Guest

Belai Laetania

Laetania Belai Djandam is a Health and Human Sciences student and climate activist currently studying in Sheffield, UK. Her passion for both human and environmental health combine in Planetary Health. Descending from the Dayak people of Borneo, she is also involved in supporting the development of local and customary communities in Kalimantan, Indonesia.

About the Host

Julia Middleton

Julia Middleton is the host of the Women Emerging podcast and a best-selling author of “If that’s leading, I’m in” as well as two previous books: “Leading beyond Authority” and “Cultural Intelligence”. She is deeply committed to helping people from all backgrounds to find their own approach to leading.

In 2020, Julia launched Women Emerging and in 2022 she lead an expedition of 24 women to find ‘an approach to leading that resonates with women’. She now leads expeditions with women all over the world based on 4Es methodology, discovered in the first expedition.

Prior to that, Julia was founder and, for over thirty years, Chief Executive of Common Purpose, which grew to become one of the biggest leadership development organisations in the world.
Julia is also an Ambassador for the Aurora Prize based in Armenia, on the boards of Alfanar Venture Philanthropy in the Arab World and Equality Now, which operates globally, and on the Advisory Councils of Fundacao Dom Cabral in Brazil and Synapse in Pakistan.

Born in London and brought up in New York, Julia was educated at French Lycées and graduated from the London School of Economics. She is married, with five children and lots of grandchildren.