Rewire your brain: Dr Caroline Leaf

1. magazine 2/2011
Neuroleadership
applies the findings of
neuroscience
to the art of leadership.
TEXT: AMANDA THURMAN, ILLUSTRATION: SANTTU MUSTONEN
magazine
1/2012
Rewire
your
brain

2. A growing body of research
indicates that understanding
what is happening in our
brains can actually improve
our leadership skills.

3. Neuroleadership – a term coined by
Australian author and leadership
consultant Dr. David Rock and Jeffrey
Schwartz, research psychiatrist
at UCLA – applies the findings of
leadership to the art of leadership.

4. Courseson neuroleadership are already being
taught in leading universities and business schools.
Also, companies such as Cargill, an international
producer and marketer of agricultural products,
and AIG, an American multinational insurance
corporation, are putting it into practice in their
management training.

5. Neuroleadership according to
JeffreySchwartz,research psychiatrist at UCLA
• The real link between neuroscience and leadership
is attention.
Rewireyour
brain

6. • The real link between neuroscience and leadership
is attention.
• Focusing the mind on identifying and creating new
leadership behavior, rather than continuing with the
same old habits, can actually create chemical and
physical changes in your brain.
Neuroleadership according to
JeffreySchwartz,research psychiatrist at UCLA
Rewireyour
brain

7. • The real link between neuroscience and leadership
is attention.
• Focusing the mind on identifying and creating new
leadership behavior, rather than continuing with the
same old habits, can actually create chemical and
physical changes in your brain.
• The more time you spend on a specific activity,
the stronger the neural pathways responsible for
executing that activity become. Taxi drivers, for
example, have a much larger posterior hippocampus
than average, as this is the part of the brain devoted
to the spatial representation of surroundings.
Neuroleadership according to
JeffreySchwartz,research psychiatrist at UCLA
Rewireyour
brain

8. • The real link between neuroscience and leadership
is attention.
• Focusing the mind on identifying and creating new
leadership behavior, rather than continuing with the
same old habits, can actually create chemical and
physical changes in your brain.
• The more time you spend on a specific activity,
the stronger the neural pathways responsible for
executing that activity become. Taxi drivers, for
example, have a much larger posterior hippocampus
than average, as this is the part of the brain devoted
to the spatial representation of surroundings.
• When you are not used to an activity, it is very
energy-intensive to carry it out. Any new task will
use your brain’s working memory – the prefrontal
cortex – to process the new information and
compare it to information already stored. Once you
have mastered the activity, the process is dealt with
in the basal ganglia, where you do not really need to
consciously think about it and you find it less tiring
to handle.
Neuroleadership according to
JeffreySchwartz,research psychiatrist at UCLA
Rewireyour
brain

9. • A lot of what leaders do in their day-to-day work
lives is governed by the basal ganglia – they have
the experience to make leadership routine. The
downside of this is that changing their activities
leads to discomfort and mental exhaustion, because
it requires the use of the prefrontal cortex again.
Neuroleadership according to
JeffreySchwartz,research psychiatrist at UCLA
Rewireyour
brain

10. • A lot of what leaders do in their day-to-day work
lives is governed by the basal ganglia – they have
the experience to make leadership routine. The
downside of this is that changing their activities
leads to discomfort and mental exhaustion, because
it requires the use of the prefrontal cortex again.
• The result? An avoidance of change, even if it is for
the better.
Neuroleadership according to
JeffreySchwartz,research psychiatrist at UCLA
Rewireyour
brain

11. • A lot of what leaders do in their day-to-day work
lives is governed by the basal ganglia – they have
the experience to make leadership routine. The
downside of this is that changing their activities
leads to discomfort and mental exhaustion, because
it requires the use of the prefrontal cortex again.
• The result? An avoidance of change, even if it is for
the better.
• When bad management techniques and cognitive
errors become habits, they become wired into
the brains of leaders and into the organizational
structure of how decisions are made.
Neuroleadership according to
JeffreySchwartz,research psychiatrist at UCLA
Rewireyour
brain

12. • A lot of what leaders do in their day-to-day work
lives is governed by the basal ganglia – they have
the experience to make leadership routine. The
downside of this is that changing their activities
leads to discomfort and mental exhaustion, because
it requires the use of the prefrontal cortex again.
• The result? An avoidance of change, even if it is for
the better.
• When bad management techniques and cognitive
errors become habits, they become wired into
the brains of leaders and into the organizational
structure of how decisions are made.
• To help with this, practice mindful awareness and
pay attention to attention.
Neuroleadership according to
JeffreySchwartz,research psychiatrist at UCLA
Rewireyour
brain

13. Rewireyour
brain
• Brains scans, such as EEG and fMRIs machines, can
be used to study executives’ brains to find patterns to
use to develop training.
Neuroleadership according to
PierreBalthazard,associate professor and the
principal investigator of The
Neuroscience of Leadership
Project at Arizona State
University

14. • Brains scans, such as EEG and fMRIs machines, can
be used to study executives’ brains to find patterns to
use to develop training.
• This data can then be analyzed and translated into
leadership development protocols.Rewireyour
brain
Neuroleadership according to
PierreBalthazard,associate professor and the
principal investigator of The
Neuroscience of Leadership
Project at Arizona State
University

15. • Brains scans, such as EEG and fMRIs machines, can
be used to study executives’ brains to find patterns to
use to develop training.
• This data can then be analyzed and translated into
leadership development protocols.
• Data from the brain scans can be correlated with, for
example, the results of a leadership questionnaire
given to the subordinates of those scanned. The most
outstanding leaders have a visionary impact on both
their workers and their organizations, and it is these
leaders that the study wants to find ways to emulate.
Rewireyour
brain
Neuroleadership according to
PierreBalthazard,associate professor and the
principal investigator of The
Neuroscience of Leadership
Project at Arizona State
University

16. • Brains scans, such as EEG and fMRIs machines, can
be used to study executives’ brains to find patterns to
use to develop training.
• This data can then be analyzed and translated into
leadership development protocols.
• Data from the brain scans can be correlated with, for
example, the results of a leadership questionnaire
given to the subordinates of those scanned. The most
outstanding leaders have a visionary impact on both
their workers and their organizations, and it is these
leaders that the study wants to find ways to emulate.
• There is a neural signature of leadership – a pattern
of neural activity – which means that a norm can
be derived. Once there is enough data to see what a
normal leadership pattern is, neurotherapies – not
unlike clinical therapies for attention deficit disorder
or stress – can be developed.
Rewireyour
brain
Neuroleadership according to
PierreBalthazard,associate professor and the
principal investigator of The
Neuroscience of Leadership
Project at Arizona State
University

17. • The ultimate goal is to assess leadership potential
using neuroscience technology and then use
neurofeedback to develop the neurological
connections associated with effective leadership
behaviors.Rewireyour
brain
Neuroleadership according to
PierreBalthazard,associate professor and the
principal investigator of The
Neuroscience of Leadership
Project at Arizona State
University

18. • The ultimate goal is to assess leadership potential
using neuroscience technology and then use
neurofeedback to develop the neurological
connections associated with effective leadership
behaviors.
• Biologically speaking, leaders’ brains are not that
different from those of normal workers. Leaders are
no smarter than average people. What they do have
are neural pathway patterns that provide them with
capacities to deal with people and problems with
empathy and ease and that can be developed and
improved.
Rewireyour
brain
Neuroleadership according to
PierreBalthazard,associate professor and the
principal investigator of The
Neuroscience of Leadership
Project at Arizona State
University

19. • The ultimate goal is to assess leadership potential
using neuroscience technology and then use
neurofeedback to develop the neurological
connections associated with effective leadership
behaviors.
• Biologically speaking, leaders’ brains are not that
different from those of normal workers. Leaders are
no smarter than average people. What they do have
are neural pathway patterns that provide them with
capacities to deal with people and problems with
empathy and ease and that can be developed and
improved.
• Valid neural approaches to develop leadership will
become commercially viable products in the not too
distant future.
Rewireyour
brain
Neuroleadership according to
PierreBalthazard,associate professor and the
principal investigator of The
Neuroscience of Leadership
Project at Arizona State
University

20. • The main goal of the DYMIRYM project is to provide
leaders with information about themselves that
they would not be able to acquire any other way.
This information will then be used for potential
development.
Rewireyourbrain
Neuroleadership according to
ChristinaKrause,professor of cognitive science
at the University of Helsinki’s
Institute of Behavioral Sciences
and leader of the “Do you mind if
I read your mind” (DYMIRYM)
project, which aims to use
neuroscience to help enhance
leadership training and
development

21. Rewireyourbrain
Neuroleadership according to
ChristinaKrause,professor of cognitive science
at the University of Helsinki’s
Institute of Behavioral Sciences
and leader of the “Do you mind if
I read your mind” (DYMIRYM)
project, which aims to use
neuroscience to help enhance
leadership training and
development
• The main goal of the DYMIRYM project is to provide
leaders with information about themselves that
they would not be able to acquire any other way.
This information will then be used for potential
development.
• The project will look at how the crucial aspects of
leadership can be observed in human brains – both
in how the brain activates in response to leadership
thoughts and actions and how the actual brain
structure may differ.

22. • The main goal of the DYMIRYM project is to provide
leaders with information about themselves that
they would not be able to acquire any other way.
This information will then be used for potential
development.
• The project will look at how the crucial aspects of
leadership can be observed in human brains – both
in how the brain activates in response to leadership
thoughts and actions and how the actual brain
structure may differ.
• The neuroscience project will help leaders by
showing how their brains react to situations
typically encountered in leadership roles.
Rewireyourbrain
Neuroleadership according to
ChristinaKrause,professor of cognitive science
at the University of Helsinki’s
Institute of Behavioral Sciences
and leader of the “Do you mind if
I read your mind” (DYMIRYM)
project, which aims to use
neuroscience to help enhance
leadership training and
development

23. • The main goal of the DYMIRYM project is to provide
leaders with information about themselves that
they would not be able to acquire any other way.
This information will then be used for potential
development.
• The project will look at how the crucial aspects of
leadership can be observed in human brains – both
in how the brain activates in response to leadership
thoughts and actions and how the actual brain
structure may differ.
• The neuroscience project will help leaders by
showing how their brains react to situations
typically encountered in leadership roles.
• The findings from the DYMIRYM project will give
leaders insights into their level of pressure tolerance
– will they crack, overreact or behave normally in
high-stress situations – using psycho-physiological
and behavioral techniques.
Rewireyourbrain
Neuroleadership according to
ChristinaKrause,professor of cognitive science
at the University of Helsinki’s
Institute of Behavioral Sciences
and leader of the “Do you mind if
I read your mind” (DYMIRYM)
project, which aims to use
neuroscience to help enhance
leadership training and
development

24. • Neuroscience is becoming an important innovator in
business education.
Neuroleadership according to
LeenaHuotari,director of the Aalto Leadership
Lab® at the Aalto University
Executive Education, which is
partially funding the DYMIRYM
project
Rewireyourbrain

25. • Neuroscience is becoming an important innovator in
business education.
• Neuroscience will provide more facts to explain
human behavior which still is seen as a soft,
unreasoned, even irrational area of business.
Neuroleadership according to
LeenaHuotari,director of the Aalto Leadership
Lab® at the Aalto University
Executive Education, which is
partially funding the DYMIRYM
project
Rewireyourbrain

26. • Neuroscience is becoming an important innovator in
business education.
• Neuroscience will provide more facts to explain
human behavior which still is seen as a soft,
unreasoned, even irrational area of business.
• It will give information that will help us to become
more conscious of our reactions and behavior and
help us to change them to more fruitful ones.
Neuroleadership according to
LeenaHuotari,director of the Aalto Leadership
Lab® at the Aalto University
Executive Education, which is
partially funding the DYMIRYM
project
Rewireyourbrain

27. So, it seems
that if we want
to be better
leaders
of more
efficient
organizations,
the future of
neuroscience
is something
we should
all be paying
attentionto.
Rewireyourbrain

28. magazine 1/2012
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