Examine your organization and leadership through the following questions: 1. How does your organization/leaders link rewards and appreciation to standards of excellence? 2. Are standards clear and ho
6 P EOPLE & STRATEGY W h i l e s p e \f k i n g \f t \f \b o n f e r e n \b e re\bently, I \fsked \f room full of HR \fnd tr\fining profession\fls if they w\fnted to improve t\rhe qu\flity of the l\re\fders in their org\fniz\ftions. Everyone r\fised \f h\fnd. Then, I \fsked who w\fs \bonfident they knew how to develop their le\fders. Not \f single h\fnd went up\r.
This situ\ftion is not \fn isol\fted o\b\buren\be. A 2008 study showed th\ft ‘improving le\fder- ship’ w\fs the se\bond most urgent hum\fn \b\fpit\fl imper\ftive for most \bomp\fnies’ busi- ness str\ftegies. Given how widespre\fd the problem is, perh\fps we need \f bre\fkthrough here, something so fund\fment\fl th\ft would offer \f new \fppro\f\bh to the very found\ftions of le\fdership think\ring. Up until now, most of our le\fdership theories evolved out of beh\fvior\fl observ\ftions, or t h r o u g h s o \b i \f l p s y \b h o l o g y r e s e \f r \b h . I t \fppe\frs th\ft this \fppro\f\bh h\fs not delivered wh\ft it w\fs supposed to do. Despite the f\f\bt there \fre now more th\fn 60,000 books on le\fdership, there is no bro\fd \fgreement on wh\ft ex\f\btly le\fders do, or wh\ft it t\fkes for them to do their jo\rbs su\b\bessfully.
Re\bent developments within neuros\bien\be h\fve given us the \fbility to shed some new light on how the br\fin fun\btions in re\fl time.
This new br\fin rese\fr\bh m\fy provide the missing link between le\fdership beh\fvior \fnd le\fdership development. Sin\be 2007, there h\fs been \fn effort to g\fther relev\fnt neuros\bien\be findings into \f new field \b\flled ‘ N e u r o L e \f d e r s h i p .’ N e u r o L e \f d e r s h i p explores the neuros\bien\be underpinning four key le\fdership skills, \b\flled the four d o m \f i n s o f N e u r o L e \f d e r s h i p . T h e s e dom\fins in\blude:
1. T he \fbility to solve problems \fnd m\fke de\bisions; 2. The \fbility to regul\r\fte emotions; 3.
The \fbility to \boll\fbor\fte with others; \fnd 4. The \fbility to f\f\bil\rit\fte \bh\fnge. While the NeuroLe\fdership field is still new, there \flre\fdy \fre identifi\fble benefits to \fpplying neuros\bien\be rese\fr\bh findings to our underst\fnding of le\fdership \bh\fr\f\bteris- ti\bs. Cle\frly, there \fre t\fngible benefits to improving le\fdership development te\bh- niques. Multiple studies show th\ft the best As the first de\b\fde of the 21st \bentury dr\fws to \f \blose, we \b\fn look b\f\bk \bonfidently \ft the 20th \bentury \fnd \b\fll it the m\fn\fge- ment \bentury. Peter Dru\bker’s \bentenni\fl in 2009 be\b\fme \f testimoni\fl to the su\b\bess we h\fve h\fd in m\fn\fgement develop- ment. The situ\ftion is quite different, however, when it \bomes to le\fdership “s\bien\be.” There \fre more th\fn 60,000 books on le\fd- ership on our shelves, \fnd we still h\fve not “\br\f\bked the \bode” on wh\ft true le\fdership re\flly me\fns \fnd how it \b\fn be \f\bhieved.
Twenty-first \bentury neuros\bien\be is now \fttempting to \bome to le\fdership’s res\bue. Br\fin rese\fr\bh is entering le\fdership dis\bus- sions \benter st\fge \fnd m\fy help to \blose the g\fp between our go\fls \fnd our pr\f\bti\bes. People & Strategy invited D\fvid Ro\bk, the pioneer of br\fin-b\fsed thinking \fbout le\fdership \fnd the founder of the NeuroLe\fdership Institute, to le\fd our dis\bussion for this spe\bi\fl issue. Ro\bk’s \frti\ble “How Neuros\bien\be will Imp\f\bt Le\fd- ership” sets the st\fge for \f bre\fkthrough \bonvers\ftion \fmong P\ful L\fwren\be, \f H\frv\frd s\bhol\fr, M\frsh\fll Goldsmith, the world’s best-selling le\fdership \futhor, \fnd three pr\f\btitioners: Terry Hog\fn of Citigroup, Christine Willi\fms, of NASA \fnd Tobi\fs Kiefer of Booz \fnd Co.
A\b\bording to D\fvid Ro\bk, we now \fre \fble to \f\b\bess those \fre\fs of the br\fin where import\fnt le\fdership br\fin fun\btions t\fke pl\f\be. We \b\fn even pinpoint spe\bifi\b tr\fining \fnd development \f\btivities to influen\be br\fin \benters to drive more effe\btive beh\fv- ior in four key dom\fins, in\bluding the le\fder’s \fbility to: 1) solve problems \fnd m\fke de\bisions 2) regul\fte emotions, 3) \boll\fbor\fte, \fnd 4) f\f\bilit\fte \bh\fnge.
The following ex\bh\fnge of ide\fs is \f mere \fnti\bip\ftion of the bre\fkthroughs yet to \bome. Our sele\btion is \fn invit\ftion to \fll students of le\fdership to \bontinue to follow the h\frd s\bien\be th\ft is r\fdi\b\flly \bh\fnging the w\fys we tr\fin \fnd develop 21st \bentury le\fders.
From the Perspectives Editor Anna Tavis, Perspectives Editor Impacting Leadership with Neuroscience By David Rock, Founder of Neuroleadership Institute VOLUME 33/I S SUE 4 — 2010 7 le\fders h\fve both strong business \fnd inter- person\fl skills. Yet m\fny le\fders h\fve fo\bused on their business skills \fnd let their interper- son\fl skills l\fg. Telling le\fders to be more self \fw\fre, \futhenti\b or to \bre\fte trust \b\fn be both \f tough sell \fnd mission impossible for the tr\finers \fnd \bo\f\bhes.
How do you t\fke someone who h\fs be\bome \f h\frd-nosed exe\butive \fnd build his or her soft skills, \ffter de\b\fdes of being rew\frded for driving results? To begin, you need to spe\fk in \f respe\btful l\fngu\fge, whi\bh me\fns \f l\fn- gu\fge b\fsed on h\frd d\ft\f, like br\fin rese\fr\bh.
Dr\fwing on the four dom\fins of NeuroLe\fd- ership, progr\fm designers \fnd f\f\bilit\ftors \fre \fble to expl\fin the theoreti\b\fl found\ftions, in biologi\b\fl terms, of most \fspe\bts of self \fnd so\bi\fl \fw\freness. At our \fnnu\fl NeuroLe\fd- e r s h i p S u m m i t , h u n d r e d s o f l e \f d e r s h i p pr\f\btitioners dis\buss the benefits of underpin- ning \f le\fdership development intervention with neuros\bien\be. In short, s\bien\be gets le\fd- ers turning to progr\fms they norm\flly would not do. It h\fs them swit\bh off their Bl\f\bk- Berry devi\bes while they \fre there, \fnd helps them e\fse into ide\fs th\ft otherwise \bould be person\flly thre\ftenin\rg.
Sever\fl other benefits to dr\fwing on neuro- s\bien\be \fre just emerging. We \fre beginning to test le\fders’ br\fin fun\btioning to g\fin \blues \fbout how they will oper\fte in \bert\fin \bondi- tions. For \f while we \bould test how well someone \bould solve line\fr \fnd non-line\fr problems. Now, we \flso \b\fn test for how well people regul\fte their emotions, how well they \bonne\bt emotion\flly with others, \fnd how well they fo\bus their \fttention, \fll b\fsed on underst\fnding of wh\ft we \fre trying to \f\bhieve, \fnd minim\fl \b\fp\f\bity to me\fsure out\bomes with h\frd d\ft\f.
Improving the qu\flity of our le\fders h\fs never been more import\fnt. Neuros\bien\be is offering some theoreti\b\fl bre\fkthroughs th\ft \flre\fdy \fre m\fking \f big differen\be. Using neuros\bien\be to expl\fin le\fdership issues now is h\fppening \f\bross m\fjor \borpor\fte, government \fnd non-profit org\fniz\ftions, in\bluding NASA, the N\ftion\fl Defense Uni- versity, Citib\fnk, Mi\brosoft \fnd other firms \fround the globe. While the rese\fr\bh is still new, the benefits \fre \fv\fil\fble to \bh\fnge the w\fy we le\fd. David Roc\f is the founder \fnd CEO of R e s u l t s C o \f \b h i n g S y s t e m s ( RC S ) , whi\bh h\fs oper\ftions in 15 \bountries \f\bross the globe. He \bo-\futhored \f fe\f- ture \frti\ble with neuros\bientist Dr.
Jeffrey S\bhw\frtz, \b\flled ‘The Neuros\bi- en\be of Le\fdership.’ He \flso wrote, ‘M\fn\fging with the Br\fin in Mind.’ He is the \futhor of sever\fl books in\bluding ‘Co\f\bhing with the Br\fin in Mind’ (Wiley & Sons, 2009), \fnd ‘Your Br\fin \ft Work,’ (O\bt. 2009). Ro\bk founded the NeuroLe\fdership Institute \fnd Summit, \f glob\fl initi\ftive bringing neuros\bientists \fnd le\fdership experts together to build \f new s\bien\be of le\fd- ership development.\r Drawing on the \four doma\oins o\f NeuroLeadership, program designers and \facilitators are able to explai\on the theoretical \founda\otions, in biological terms, o\f most aspects o\f sel\f \oand social awareness... and helps them ease int\oo ideas that otherwis\oe could be personall\b threatening.
br\fin tests r\fther th\fn questionn\fires. We even h\fve \f w\fy to me\fsure over\fll neur\fl integr\ftion, \f m\frker for \fd\fpt\fbility. As these te\bhnologies be\bome more widely \fv\fil- \fble, we \b\fn get better \ft putting the right people into the right jobs, \fs well \fs t\frget development needs \rto the individu\fl.
Another emerging \fre\f of rese\fr\bh involves the \fbility to predi\bt dire\btly \f le\fders’ effe\b- tiveness. In \f l\fb \ft MIT, s\bientist Alex\fnder Pentl\fnd is \fble to \f\b\bur\ftely predi\bt who will su\b\beed in \fn influen\bing t\fsk, without needing to he\fr wh\ft the le\fder s\fys. The \fppro\f\bh dr\fws on biologi\b\fl sign\fls like body movements \fnd tone of voi\be, b\fsed on rese\fr\bh \b\flled ‘Honest Sign\fls.’ Fin\flly, with \f more \f\b\bur\fte underst\fnding of wh\ft le\fders do \fnd \fn \fbility to qu\fn- tify \f le\fder’s \fbilities, we \b\fn begin to me\fsure \fnd therefore improve le\fdership p r o g r \f m s m o r e s u \b \b e s s f u l l y. C u r r e n t l y, billions of doll\frs \f ye\fr \fre spent on le\fder- s h i p d e v e l o p m e n t , w i t h v e r y l i t t l e Neuroscience is o\f\fer\oing more theoretical \o breakthroughs that al\oread\b are making a b\oig di\f\ference. Using ne\ouroscience to explai\on leadership issues now is happe\oning across major, corporate, government and non-profit o\organizations... ➤
