NeuroLeadership in Organization Development

NeuroleadershipWhat Brain Science Teaches Us About LeadershipPresented to OD Network WNYMay 15, 2014Matilda Lorenzo, SPHRConcentric Leadership Partnerswww.concentricleadership.com

http://concentricleadership.com

Housekeeping items

Objectives• Learn how science impacts

leadership• Understand why change resistance is

so strong and what can be done• Gain insights that help shift from

resistance to engagement• Gain an introduction to the SCARF

model – a communications approach• Become more self-aware

Neural basis of leadershipand change managementpracticeshttp://concentricleadership.com

Why is Change So Difficult?

What is Neuroleadership?

• Decision-making and problem-solving

• Emotional regulation• Collaborating • Facilitating change

Dr. David Rock • Australian Author of Quiet

Leadership: Six Steps to Transforming Performance at Work and Your Brain at Work.

• Coined term "Neuroleadership” • Cofounder of Neuroleadership

Institute, a global initiative bringing together neuroscientists and leadership experts to build a new science for leadership development.

6 Insights about the Brain

1. The brain is a connection machine2. Up close, no two brains are alike3. Hardwires everything it can4. Hardwiring drives automatic perception5. Practically impossible to deconstruct our old wiring6. We can create new wiring

Connection Machine

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.

Connection Machine

Constantly making connections - millions per secondSeeks to understand new info by comparing it to existing mapsImpasse happens when we can’t reconcile the mapsRepeated until resolved

No 2 Brains Alike

• There is no clear pattern across brains• We all think differently

Our Brains Hardwire Everything

Working MemoryLimitations

Long-Term MemoryHard-wiring

Perception driven by hard-wiring

Every brain sees the world differently, based on its’ hardwiring.

Chemical response of our perceptions – reward + dopamine, threat = cortisol and affects behavior and thinking

Changing old wiring is difficult

The more attention we give any connection, the more connections are deepened in the brain.

Creating new wiring is easy

• Constantly create new maps.• Reconcile dilemmas by

creating new maps. This occurs in a moment of insight – “aha”

• Can become hardwiring with enough attention and positive feedback.

10 x 3

120 x 5/2 http://concentricleadership.com

Processing Capacity

Three Key Areas

Prefrontal Cortex

Limbic System

Basal Ganglia

Prefrontal Cortex - thinking

Thinking Brain Limitations

Multi-tasking

Basal Ganglia - habits

The Limbic System - emotions

Detecting Threats

Moving From Resistance to Engagement

The Incredibly Social Brain

The human brain is our “social organ”.

Brain as Operating Network

Social Pain• Social and physical pain share same

circuitry• Social rejection = physiological pain

The Biology of Engagement

Minimize DangerMaximize Reward

Organizing principle

Fear - Stronger than Motivation

When threatened, the increased overall activation in the brain inhibits people from perceiving the more subtle signals required for solving non-linear problems, involved in the insight or “aha!” experience (Subramaniam et al, 2007).

And … with the amygdala activated, the tendency is to generalize more, which increases the likelihood of accidental connections. There is a tendency to err on the safe side, shrinking from opportunities, as they are perceived to be more dangerous. People become more likely to react defensively to stimuli.

Meeting expectations generates an increase in dopamine levels in the brain, a reward response (Schultz, 1999).

Going back to a well-known place feels good because the mental maps of the environment can be easily recalled.

Status Certainty Autonomy Relatedness Fairness

Threat

Reward

Status• Relative

Importance to Others: How We Compare

Increasing Status• Status can be increased

without cost to others of an effect on relatedness

• Playing against oneself

• Changes the community one focuses on

Reducing status threat

When threatened, people may defend a position that doesn’t make sense, to avoid the perceived pain of a drop in status.

The human resistance to change is really … the human resistance to

pain.http://concentricleadership.com

CertaintyThe brain likes to be able to predict and have a say in the future.

Even a small amount of uncertainty generates an ‘error’ response in the orbital frontal cortex (OFC).

This takes attention away from one’s goals, forcing attention to the error (Hedden, Garbrielli, 2006)

AutonomyThe brain likes to be able to predict.

A feeling of having a choice dramatically reduces stress levels

“Even if we have the illusion that we are in control, our cognitive functions are preserved.” Amy Arnsten, Professor of Neurobiology, Yale Medical School

Relatedness

Friend or foeTrust or distrustConnect or don’t connect

Foe is the default

Fairness

Threat = Away StateDISENGAGEMENT•Reduction in cognitive resources•Decrease in prefrontal cortex capacity•More narrow field of view•Generalize to other areas•Erring on the side of pessimism •Decrease in creativity

Reward = Toward StateENGAGEMENTAccess to cognitive resources (Amy Arnsten)More creative ideas (Barbara Fredericson)More insights (Mark Jung-Beeman)Able to see more and take in more infoDecrease in mistakesIncrease in collaborationIncrease in dopamine levels

What Does this Mean For Leaders?

The workplace is a social system, not just a contract where labor is exchanged for a paycheck.Commitment, engagement levels and performance are profoundly impacted by the social context of the workplace

What Leaders Can Do

• Create shared goals• Focus on linking rather than ranking –

connect people together• Focus on how people are improving• Be more transparent & over-

communicate• Increase feeling of “being valued” and

on the same team• Give choices• Provide clear expectation

Effective leaders are relationship architects and social context engineers

Compounding Threat

Leaders can activate the threat response in multiple domains

Creates a powerful inability to think differently, take a novel perspective or stay attuned to the vision

Counteracting ThreatDecrease the threat in one domain by increasing reward in a different domain

Model the Way

What Science Tells Us Works

• A toward state … reducing threat• Helping people come to their own

insights• Leading with the social brain in mind• Focus on the “attention” to solutions

and new habits• A quiet brain• Self awareness• Emotion regulation

Neuroplasticity“Neurons that fire together wire together.” ~ Hebb’s Rule

“The ability to intentionally address the social brain in the service of optimal performance will be a distinguishing leadership capability in

the years ahead.”

- David Rock

“Brain development is the same as leadership development.”

~ Dr. Paul McDonald ddd

NeuroLeadership in Organization Development

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