What every leader can learn from neuroscience 16 march

Update from the
Neurosciences:
What A Coach
Wants to Know
Michael A. Netzley, PhD

§ Academic Director, SMU Executive Development
§ SMU faculty since 2002; 25 years in higher ed
§ 2011 Champion’s Award, Innovative Course
Design and Delivery; 2015 Best Case Study Award
Winner, EFMD
§ Editorial Board, Asian Management Insights
§ Founding Director, SMU Teaching Excellence
Initiative
§ Author of numerous case studies and 4 books
§ Visiting positions in Argentina, Berlin, Finland,
Slovenia, and Japan
§ Key clients include Credit Suisse, BNP Paribas,
Singapore Airlines , Unilever, IBM, IHG, TCS, 3M,
UOB, Singapore’s MFA & MoE, SingHealth, GSK,
Bosnalijek Pharmaceutical, Lundbeck
Pharmaceutical, Bayer, Schneider Electric, and
Sumitomo Chemical.
Michael Netzley, Phd. 2016

Why Do We Care?
Connecting neurosciences to executive development

Imagine You Are Managing A Computer Lab
We know people are different from computers, but just play along…

Each Computer Has A Different OS
Much like people have different personalities, languages, and culture

Now Apply That Metaphor To People
Our brains have the same elements, but each is wired differently (we
each have a slightly different OS). This is what managers deal with
every day—neuroscience helps you succeed across the differences.

How You Can Help
Using Neurosciences
The professional benefits of applied neurosciences

Optimize Your Mental Flow
“Flow” describes our brain’s peak performance when we are
completely immersed in an activity

Build Improved Habits
By understanding neuroplasticity and how the brain can be rewired
for new tasks and strategic change

Avoid Unintentionally Stepping on Landmines
Neurosciences teaches us how our best intentions can trigger the
wrong response—and how you can evoke the desired response

Master Your Cognitive Biases

Let’s Begin With A Little Quiz
1. True or False: When we refer to our mind, we are
referring to something that is separate from our body.
2. True or False: We make better decisions when we leave
emotion out of it and rely primarily on logic.
3. True or False: People are either “left brained” or “right
brained” (left brain is better for logic and organization
while right brain is better for creativity and intuition)
4. True or False: There are neurochemicals that make us
better leaders (e.g., serotonin and Oxytocin are the
brain’s “selfless” chemicals)
5. True or False: Old dogs cannot learn new tricks.
6. True or False: Medical researchers have proven that
new habits are generally formed in 21 days.
Don’t worry…the answers will follow
Michael Netzley, PhD. 2016

Leadership
How do the neurosciences add to our understanding of
leadership?

“
Traditional leadership (and
executive, and coaching…)
development has largely
focused on what could be seen;
the brain’s activity was either
estimated or simply ignored

Today, We Can Literally See What Goes
On Inside The Brain
§ So what happens when
you question a
coachee’s performance
or sign the contract for
an exciting new gig?
§ We can now see a part
of the equation—the
brain activity—that has
mostly been excluded
from our understanding
We can now see the brain’s operations in real time

Motivating
An example of seeing something that was
previously not visible

Threat and Reward Response
§ The Negative
Emotional Feel
§ Pain
§ Attention retracted
§ Mental blockages
§ The Positive Felt
Reward
§ Pleasure
§ Attention given
§ Mental activity “flows”
Neuroscientists say we should start here

Social vs Physical Brain
Where both reside in the brain

SCARF
§ Status
§ Certainty
§ Autonomy
§ Relatedness
§ Fairness
What did neuroscientists discover about motivation?

Status
§ When we perceive an
encounter might
diminish our status
§ Threat response kicks in
§ Cortisol is released into
the brain
§ Cortisol production is
stress-related
§ Corporate values and
culture strongly impacts
our status comparisons
Humans assess the rise and fall of social status

Certainty
§ Familiarity shifts the brain
to autopilot
§ We use established neural
pathways
§ This saves energy- is very
efficient
§ Can do 2 things at once –
talk and drive
§ Variation: mild uncertainty
can attract interest
§ How can managers build
certainty?
§ Link to self-efficacy
Ambiguity or confusion triggers the threat response

Autonomy
§ Reduced autonomy—
e.g., micromanaging—
can induce the threat
response
§ Perceived lack of control
can increase stress
(cortisol is released)
§ Greater scope to make
own choices leads to
better perceptions of
work life balance
(regardless of factual
hours worked)
Can I exercise my decisions without too much oversight?

Relatedness
§ In the brain, trust and empathy
toward others is shaped by
whether they are perceived to
be part of the same social
group
§ Meet someone new = brain
“friend or foe” decision
§ As we become friends, brain
releases oxytocin (linked to
affection, generosity, maternal
instinct)
§ Threats of loneliness or
isolation can flood the brain
with neurochemicals identical
to when we feel physical pain
Fruitful collaboration depends on healthy relationships

Fairness
§ In studies, perceptions
of fairness have brain
responses similar to
eating chocolate
§ Motivator is so strong
that some are willing to
fight and die over
fairness
§ Without it, trust and
collaboration cannot
flourish
Perceived fairness is relative, but also an important
“glue”

“
We now have reason to
believe that economic
incentives are only effective
when people perceive them
as supporting their social
needs…
- David Rock, 2009

“
If you are a leader, every
action you take and
decision you make either
supports or undermines
SCARF…
- David Rock, 2009

Your Brain

The Frontal Lobes
§ Historically we did not
pay a lot of attention to
the frontal lobes.
§ Today we know they
are the orchestra’s
conductor
§ Essential to reasoning,
planning ahead, etc
The orchestra’s conductor – where executive functions are
performed

Why Focus on the Executive’s Brain?
§ Achilles and the Myrmidon warriors
§ Historically leaders inspired courage with
front line fighting, as did Achilles
§ Today they lead from the balcony;
overseeing
§ The key assumption is that this specific type
of executive role—from the balcony—will
make the team/troops better
§ Today’s CEO typically displays such
leadership, as does the conductor of the
orchestra. The CEO does not
manufacture the goods or deliver the
actual services anymore than the
conductor makes the music.
Look at how the role of the executive has evolved

“
The function of leadership
acquires a distinct status and
becomes separate only when
the size and complexity of the
organization crosses a certain
threshold.
- Elkhonon Goldberg, The Executive Brain

Myths and Mistakes
About Your Brain

1. Descartes’ Continuing Influence
“I think,
therefore I am”
This statement
implies that thinking
is the real substance
of being; it celebrates
the mind-body
distinction
Renee Descartes (1596 – 1650)

Descartes’ Mind-Body Distinction
Mind
§ Software
§ A mental event (there
is no physical
structure called the
mind)
§ “The mind is
willing…”
Body
§ Hardware
§ A physical event
(we do have a physical
body that can be
studied)
§ “…but the body is
unable” (as an aging
athlete might say).

1. Descartes’ Error
Mind and Body are Inextricably Connected to Each Other

“
“Descartes’ Error…. Specifically,
[was] the separation of the most
refined operations of the mind
from the structure and
operations of a biological
organism.”
- Antonio Damasio, author and neuroscientist

Here is Why You Should Care!
§ Researchers are already helping
us—managers, coaches, and
everyday people—maximize the
benefits that come from leveraging
on the mind-body connection.
§ “presence,” the state in which we
stop worrying about the impression
we’re making on others and instead
adjust the impression we’ve been
making on ourselves….we need to
nudge ourselves, moment by
moment, by tweaking our body
language, behavior, and mind-set
in our day-to-day lives.
The mind-body connection has potentially powerful benefits
Source: http://amycuddy.com/presence/Michael Netzley, Phd. 2016

2. Emotion v Rationality Can Be a False Choice

“ Reduction in emotion may
constitute an equally
important source of
irrational behavior.

3. Left Brain versus Right Brain
§ Traditionally, we
describe the left brain
as the scientific and
logical half
§ More recently, Dr.
Elkhonon Goldberg
argues that the left is
for routine activity
§ Well trodden
§ And the right brain is
described as the
creative and
innovative half
§ Dr. Elkhonon
suggests the right
side processes novel
activities
§ Exploratory
The latest insights offer a slightly different theory…

4. Neurochemicals and Leadership
Unfortunately, a complete overstatement in the popular press

“
[Neurochemicals] are part of an
exceedingly complicated mechanism
which operates at the level of molecules,
synapses, local circuits, and and systems,
and in which sociocultural
factors…intervene powerfully. A
satisfactory explanation can arise only
from a more comprehensive view.

5. Old Dogs Can Learn New Tricks
Fortunately, Neuroplasticity Gives Us Hope
Neuroplasticity refers to changes in your brain’s
synapses and pathways that result from changes in
behavior, thinking or emotion.

6. New Habits Tale A Bit More Than 21 Days
§ Great place to introduce weak and strong neural
connections, following neuroplasticity, and the
expenditure of cognitive energy
§ Misinterpretation of Dr. Maxwell Maltz’s work
(1960) saying it took a minimum of 21 days for
new habits to set in.
§ Recent research (2010) in European Journal of
Social Psychology by Lally, van Jaarsveld, Potts
and Wardle reports that on average 66 days were
required for a new habit to take hold.
§ The days required to form the new habits, in this
study, ranged from 18 to 254 days
The original research appears to have been misquoted

Let’s End With Our Quiz Answers
1. True or False: When we refer to our mind, we are referring to
something that is separate from our body.
2. True or False: We make better decisions when we leave
emotion out of it and rely primarily on logic.
3. True or False: People are either “left brained” or “right brained”
(left brain is better for logic and organization while right brain is
better for creativity and intuition) We use both
4. True or False: There are neurochemicals that make us better
leaders (e.g., serotonin and Oxytocin are the brain’s “selfless”
chemicals)
5. True or False: Old dogs cannot learn new tricks.
6. True or False: Medical researchers have proven that new
habits are generally formed in 21 days.
Don’t worry…the answers will follow

Leading Change
A Final Example For Your Learning Pleasure

§ Old habits die hard
§ People’s beliefs and behaviors have been
reinforced through everyday routines
§ Changing these habits are difficult – brain’s
“habit center” further entrenches these
patterns

§Draws on parts of brain that require
more effort, energy
§New behaviors must be embedded in
“habit center” through time, intensity,
and repetition.
Requires a tremendous amount of cognitive energy

Source: Gaito (the inner circle); Schwartz and Lennick (the numbered steps)Michael Netzley, PhD. 2016

§ Don’t tell people what they are doing wrong –
accentuate what they’re doing right, focus on
desired end state
§ Cultivate cognitive veto power – people always
have the option to veto the way things are done,
practice needed
§ Capability of focusing attention built over time
– establish a path leading to focused attention, 6
steps of virtuous cycle

How We Talk About Performance Matters
§ By focusing on what is wrong,
we amplify the problem.
§ Wehen building new neural
pathways, we want to instead
amplify the desired behavior.
§ Why amplify the new
behavior? Remember,
neurons that fire together
will wire together.
§ With AI, part of our design is
staying focused on what the
coachee does right.
§ Positive care; the positive
search for what is best in
people.
Like appreciative inquiry (AI), we sometimes focus on the positives

Essential Reading

Essential Viewing
§ Charlie Rose Brain Series, multi-part
discussion of the human brain with leading
researchers and a Nobel laureate
(YouTube)

What every leader can learn from neuroscience 16 march

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