Neuroscience for Leaders & Managers

As in all my articles, I will post pictures, videos and charts and refrain from writing to many text. Since this is about the brain, it's the most effective way.

Introduction - Real Case Study

TechnoScape Consulting Inc. has been a leading provider of software development consulting services for over a decade. Most of TechnoScape's software development efforts and projects revolve around Databases.

When Ousmane Faye got promoted to the position of Global Head – Operations, one of the leading changes that he wanted to implement organization-wide was to bring in automation.

Ousmane knew that automation was the demand of the day and many small parts of the larger processes at TechnoScape could be automated using Macros.

Macros are a special programs that can be created to automate and run a sequence of steps that are repeated in a process each time a project is being developed. Ousmane knew that there were several such steps that get repeated even in software development that could be easily done quickly and more efficiently by automating using Macros.

So, as soon as Ousmane became the Global Head – Operations, he started propaganda for driving automation across the organization. However, this new change was not welcomed by the employees. They started to feel that the Management was doing this as a part of a downsizing plan.

TechnoScape employees were so scared and repulsive to this change that they did not even bother to think about the benefits of automation. Ultimately, the overall employee morale levels dipped and even their performance suffered.

So, what exactly do you think went wrong here? Is Ousmane wrong in trying to bring about an improvement in the current processes?

No, absolutely not! Improving a process is the best thing to do for an organization, however, Ousmane forgot to keep one crucial aspect in his mind.

The human brain! That’s right! The human brain is so conditioned that it makes people hate change and be afraid of it. Change provokes sensation of physiological and mental discomfort in human beings. Don’t you think, it would have been better if Ousmane has been aware of this crucial aspect of the human brain?

This is where the role of Neuroscience for Leaders and Managers plays a significant role in managing people by keeping the physiological aspect of the human brain in mind.

As no matter how different one person is from another, many aspects of the human brain on human behavior can be generalized across all human beings.

This is what Neuroscience helps in understanding when trying to manage your employees.

Let us learn about ‘Neuroscience for Leaders & Managers’ in further detail.

This will be a two or three part series. I won't be able to cover all so contact me for the full article. Let's dig in.

Table contents:

1.  Why Use Neuroscience?
2.  Principles of Neuroscience
3.  Areas Affected by Neuroscience
4.  Perceptions & Mapping by Mind
5. Challenges in Managing People
6.  Uses of Neuroscience
7.  What are Neurological Levels?
8. Leadership and Neuroscience
9. Leadership Skills & Neuroscience
10. Neuroscience & Performance
11. Benefits of Neuroscience

1. Why Use Neuroscience?

There are several ways in which using Neuroscience for management may benefit the manager or leader, the subordinate, as well as the organization, such as follows:

• It helps greatly enhance leadership performance.
• It enhances and leads to a heightened level of accountability not only in the management realms but throughout the entire organization.
• It increases the overall productivity of subordinates.
• It greatly boosts and improves subordinate morale.
• Neuroscience helps leaders to create an enhanced support system for the subordinate to work in.
• It reduces the turn-over time.

The knowledge and understanding of Neuroscience help understand neutron activation patterns which is crucial to help Managers and Leaders to engage effectively with clients and subordinates, and facilitate change of uncomfortable, or less helpful patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviors.

2. Principles of Neuroscience

Before understanding the application of Neuroscience to management, it is crucial to understand some of the key principles of Neuroscience, which are categorized as follows:

Let us look at each in detail.

Discovery of Mirror Neurons:

• Earlier brain was seen as a closed system. However, this has changed with the discovery of mirror neurons.
• The discovery of mirror neurons brought forth a new revolutionary finding about the human brain that rather than being a closed system, the human brain works as a social network.
• The human brain is continually reacting to the environment and is connected which forms social patterns which in turn shapes the way the activation patterns between the neurons change.

Neuron Activation:

• Another basic principle that changes the way we think about human brain and psychoanalysis is that the neurons are pliable and plastic in nature.
• Hence, they change activation patterns within themselves from one neuron to the other.
• Hence, in order to facilitate any change in neural activation, it requires continuous and structured talking therapies.

Brain Development:

• The development of the brain starts from the brain stem areas and then moves to the limbic and cortical regions.
• This discovery brings forth an interesting insight about the way therapy should be carried out.
• Research has found that for therapy to be effective, there is first a need for safety and binding before any kind of higher-level cognitive changes can be carried out.

3. Areas Affected by Neuroscience for Management

Using Neuroscience for management can contribute to a better performance in several areas such as:

4. Perceptions & Mapping by Mind

Role of Perception & Beliefs in Management

5. Psychological Challenges to Managing People

Leading and managing people is a real challenge psychologically. And here are a few examples:

Categorizing People to Understand Them

Based on your interaction with the people around you, you can categorize them into various categories to understand them better and to learn how to deal with them. The following is a list of the general categories into which people can be classified and also the way you can deal with each category:

I won't go in detail about each category here. As always, I am happy to share my findings upon your request.

6. Uses of Neuroscience for Management

There are various uses of Neuroscience for management, as follows:

Understanding Others to Manage Conflict

In order to manage any conflict, take the time to understand others. Some recommendations are:

This will end Part 1. In the next post, I will cover the following:

• What are Neurological Levels?
• Leadership and Neuroscience
• Leadership Skills & Neuroscience
• Neuroscience & Performance
• Benefits of Neuroscience

Thank you for reading. I will leave you with this funny little video

References:

Neuroplasticity: How Neuroplasticity Rewire Your Brain, Eliminate Depression and Anxiety, Overcoming Trauma, Improve Memory, and Why You Need to Apply This Technique for Stop Procrastinating! By Emily Goleman

Create a Better Brain Through Neuroplasticity by Debi Pearl

Your Brain, Explained: What Neuroscience Reveals About Your Brain and its Quirks by Mark Dingman, PhD.

Neuroplasticity: The Power of Positive Thinking and the Fascinating Ability of the Brain to Change Itself  by Natalie Brooks, M.D., PhD.

Mr. Hussein Saad may be reached at:

+961 71 493 991 (WhatsApp) or email at [email protected]