Your Brain on Leadership

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Albert Washington
5 years ago
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1 Your Brain on Leadership Sue Ann Gonis, M.A., CPCC, PCC

2 What is NeuroLeadership? Neuroleadership is an emerging field of study focused on bringing neuroscientific knowledge into the areas of leadership development, management training, education, consulting, and coaching. Dr. David Rock

3 What can we learn from neuroscience? Motivation, change, feedback, training, selection, coaching, and employee engagement.

4 The Social Brain

5 Threat and Reward Much of our motivation driving social behavior is governed by an overarching organizing principle of minimizing THREAT and maximizing REWARD. (Gordon, 2000)

6 Why should we care? Threat Reward Threat Reduced motivation Reduced engagement Reduced ability to problem solve Reduced ability to make decisions Reduced perspective More likely to make mistakes Error on the safe side Defensive Reward Greater engagement Ability to problem solve More creativity & innovation Greater collaboration Greater perspective More productive Willing to do difficult things Able to think deeply about issues & develop new solutions Stress

7 Our brain is inherently attuned to threatening stimuli.

8 SCARF five domains that impacts motivation and engagement Status Certainty Autonomy Relatedness Fairness

9 Threats to Status Giving someone advice or instructions Suggesting someone is ineffective at a task Performance reviews, unless extremely participative 360s, unless they are well-designed

10 Increasing Status Reward Openly praise and give positive feedback in front of others. Constructive feedback should be useful and done in private. Help people achieve more by breaking large projects down into smaller parts, so there is a sense of achievement along the way. Help people learn and grow. Give pay increases based on someone learning new skills rather than for their seniority.

11 Threats to Certainty Not knowing your boss expectations or if your job is not secure can be highly debilitating Change Not having consistent updates in a change situation Not being able to ask questions

12 Increasing Certainty Reward Identifying common goals and create a plan Meeting expectations (generates an increase in dopamine levels in the brain, a reward response) Break things down into smaller steps Going back to the well-known place Agreeing verbally how long a meeting will run Stating clear objectives at the start of any discussion and allow people to ask questions

13 Threats to Autonomy Being micromanaged Having no choice Not having control over work and work/life balance

14 Increasing Autonomy Rewards Give employees greater flexibility Allow people to set up their own work areas and organize their workflow Let people manage their work hours Create a sense of entrepreneurship

15 Threats to Relatedness Globalization collaboration between people from different cultures, who are unlikely to meet in person Meeting new people (friend or foe) To be in competition with someone When you don t feel understood

16 Increasing Rewards to Relatedness Handshake and smile Swapping names and discussing something in common (this releases oxytocin) Other cultures dedicate social time in other forms (e.g., video, ask people on teams to share personal aspects of themselves via stories and photos, or socialnetworking sites In the workplace, encourage positive social connections Find ways to increase safe connections between people Set up clearly defined buddy systems, mentoring, or coaching

17 Threats to Fairness Having a different set of rules for different people When management has a separate set of rules When management does not walk the talk Feeling that you are not being listened to or heard Feeling that you are not being respected Feeling unappreciated (these are all amygdala triggers)

18 Increase Rewards Increase transparency to Fairness Increase communication and involvement about business issues Establish clear expectations in all situations-from one-hour meetings to a five-year contract Set clear ground rules, expectations, or objectives (involve others in the process)

19 Leaders, ask yourself these questions: Did I treat people fairly, draw people together to solve problems, promote entrepreneurship and autonomy, foster certainty wherever possible, and find ways to raise the perceived status of everyone? If so, the brains on your team will salute you.

20 Sources p. (714) Assessment: Scarf360.com Neuroleadership.org

Learning from Neuroscience to improve Performance Management. part of our We think series

Learning from Neuroscience to improve Performance Management part of our We think series Contents The application of Neuroscience 3 The SCARF Framework 3 SCARF applied to Performance Management 3 Next