Neuroscience for Leaders & Managers (Part 2 of 3)

This is a continuation of Part 1. Please see link below:

Part 1 of 3

6. How Neuroscience Changed Management Principles?

There are a few key management approaches or strategies that have been questioned and called for to be changed by Neuroscience. These are:

Carrot & Stick Method:

• One of the oldest and most popular methods of bringing about change in subordinates that most organizations follow is the carrot and stick method.
• Using this method, right kind of behavior should be rewarded or like a rabbit should be offered a carrot as reward.
• On the other hand, any kind of undesirable behavior should be reprimanded or punished or using the stick.
• This behaviorism method is widely used for bringing about organizational change.
• However, as per Neuroscience, the carrot and stick method does not work for long-term solutions.
• It can only act as a short-term fix.
• The primary reason that this method does not work is because rather than focusing on the positive, it brings about a sense of panic and anxiety to do the right things and avoid doing the undesirable behavior.
• This greatly takes away the person’s mind from being creative and from the task at hand and sets forth a worrying cycle that leads to stress and deterioration of performance.

Humanistic or Niceness Approach

• The Humanistic or Niceness approach to management pushes managers and leaders to use empathy and a people-centric approach to management.
• As a result of this approach, managers and leaders are encouraged to use constructive feedback where people are given negative feedback in a polite way.
• The idea here is that if you present negative information in a nice or polite way, people are more inclined to accept your ideas and hence change.
• However, Neuroscience stresses on the fact that humanistic or niceness approach does not work.
• In fact, the politeness and niceness may go greatly awry where the subordinate may end up distrusting the managers and leaders.
• Humans tend to push away ideas when they are told what to do, no matter in which form the idea or information is presented to them.
• Hence, rather than focusing on niceness, managers and leaders should focus on being straightforward and truly caring of the subordinates’ development.

Change Management

• Neuroscience brings forth some interesting facts about how people react to change and why they react the way they do.
• Change is something that is undesirable to the human brain.
• This is because all activities that are done for the first time or anything new is processed in the “working memory” or prefrontal cortex part of the brain.
• This part of the brain is highly energy-intensive.
• So, whenever humans come across any task which is new, it requires a lot of energy to perform it, understand it, and develop a habit for it.
• However, once a habit is formed, the task is performed by the basic ganglia part of the brain.
• This part is a low-energy part of the brain.
• So, when humans perform activities that have become a habit, it requires much less energy to perform it.
• This finding greatly changes the way managers and leaders should approach change management.
• Hence, rather than focusing on only letting employees know the benefit of change, they should plan for change management in a way which is least intrusive to the thinking patterns of the brain so that it can be easily converted into a daily routine through enough time and practice.

Multitasking

• Multitasking though may get many tasks done at once, however, the outcome or quality of such task results may not be very attractive.
• Neuroscience believes that the human brain is physically made up in a manner that provides power to the person when he focuses on one task at hand.
• With a single-minded focus, a person can put in more than his best and deliver stellar performance than when he is performing several tasks at once.
• The act of focusing your mental attention on a task deeply activates the brain connections and activity and make it perform at its peak efficiency.

Motivation & Employee Engagement

• Organizations have long been using the same kind of motivation techniques from one employee to the other.
• Even employee engagement is driven in a mass-effect manner.
• However, Neuroscience states that a person’s mental maps, his perceptions, attitudes, experiences etc. greatly affect the way he may react to any kind of motivation or engagement strategy.
• Due to this, there is no sure shot way that managers and leaders can decide on a single strategy that they can use for all their subordinates with success.
• Hence, it is crucial that keeping in light these findings of Neuroscience, leaders and managers should try to alter their management techniques and strategies from one to the other subordinate and be cognizant of his/her reaction to that particular technique or strategy.
• Then, over time, a leader or manager may begin to understand their subordinates’ perceptions and act according to their individual perceptions and belief systems for greater management success.

7. Relationship Management for Leaders

What does Relationship Management really mean? Relationship Management means adeptness at inducing desirable responses in others.

Relationship Management Competencies for Leaders are:

Let look at each in detail.

Developing Others: ‘Developing Others’ means sensing others’ development needs and bolstering their abilities through constructive feedback and proper guidance.

Inspirational Leadership: ‘Inspirational Leadership’ means inspiring, motivating and guiding individuals and groups with a compelling vision.

Change Catalyst: ‘Change Catalyst’ means initiating or managing change and leading in a new direction.

Influence: ‘Influence’ means having impact on others and using a range of effective tactics for persuasion.

Conflict Management: ‘Conflict Management’ means negotiating and resolving disagreements.

Teamwork & Collaboration: ‘Teamwork and Collaboration’ means creating group synergy in pursuing collective goals. It means cultivating and maintaining a web of relationships that foster cooperation and team building.

8. Leadership Characteristics Affected by Neuroscience

The traits or characteristics of leaders that can be affected and hence changed by using an understanding of Neuroscience are:

Vision: A leader should have an ideal goal in mind which proposes a future better than the status quo. Followers will be greatly influenced and be motivated by the extraordinary vision of a leader. Leaders must have strong conviction about the VISION, they should be strongly committed towards his vision and willing to take on high personal risk, incur high costs, and engage in self-sacrifice to achieve their vision.

Hence, the Capability to Articulate Vision is crucial: Leader should clearly state in clear terms the vision in such a way that it is understandable to others. This articulation demonstrates an understanding of the followers’ needs and hence acts as a motivating force.

Self Confidence: Leaders should be self-confident and have complete confidence in their judgment and ability.

Extraordinary Personality: Effective leaders should have a behavior that is unique, novel, unconventional, and counter to norms. Such behaviors evoke surprise and admiration in followers.

Influence and Lead Change: Effective leaders should be perceived as being a change agent and should evoke radical change rather than just act as caretakers of the status quo.

Neuroscience is a powerful development methodology incorporated into management and training of leadership that help to develop Managers and Leaders that:

Researchers have found that the threat response is often triggered in social situations, and it tends to be more intense and longer-lasting than the reward response. Hence, it is natural that the method of reward and punishment for driving desirable behavior at workplace is outdated and fails to bring long lasting results.

9. Which Leadership Skills can Neuroscience help Develop?

As a leader, your mission is always to develop your skills and the skills of other.

There are two main types of leadership skills that Neuroscience can help you develop:

Personal Skills:

The three major types of personal skills you can develop using Neuroscience for leadership skills are as follows:

Let's look at each in detail.

1. Developing Self-awareness:

• Determining values and priorities
• Identifying your cognitive style
• Be aware of one’s strengths and weaknesses
• Assessing attitude toward change

2. Managing Stress:

• Coping with stressors
• Manage time effectively
• Delegate to save time
• Use appropriate stress management strategies

3. Problem Solving Skills:

• Solving problems creatively
• Using rational approach in problem solving
• Using creative approach in problem solving
• Fostering innovation in others

Interpersonal Skills

The four major types of interpersonal skills you can develop using Neuroscience for leadership skills are as follows:

1. Influential Skills:

• Projecting power and influences
• Exercising influence on others
• Empowering others
• Project a self-confident and strong image

2. Efficient Communication:

• Provide effective coaching
• Counsel others
• Listen actively
• Understand concerns and problems by proper probing
• Use questioning and probing for better understanding of others
• Use effective communication for building rapport with others

3. Motivating Others:

• Diagnose poor performance
• Create a motivating environment 
• Reward accomplishment
• Provide proper feedback
• Monitor performance

4. Conflict Management Skills:

• Manage conflicts effectively
• Identify causes of conflicts
• Select and apply appropriate strategies for conflict management
• Resolve confrontations

In Conclusion, I will leave you with this tip.

Key areas that Managers and Leaders should never lose focus are:

• Attracting, Developing, and Retaining Best Talent
• Strategy Formulation and Execution
• Customer Service Excellence
• Driving a High-performance Culture
• Employee Engagement
• Brand Building
• Quality

End of Part two.

Thank you for reading.