Neuroscience Secrets: How To Shape The Brain for Exemplary Leadership
"???????? ???????? ???????? ???????? ?????? ?????????? ???? ???????? ?????? ???????????????????? ???????? ???? ??????????????, ?????? ?????? ?????????? ???????????? ???? ???????????????? ???? ???????? ??????????????????????."
~ Marcus Aurelius
. . .
Displaying and executing exemplary self-leadership and the ability to lead others during challenging times is not about how someone feels at a particular moment.
? But instead, it is about boldly facing and producing facts!
Executives, leaders, and entrepreneurs who have been successful for many years in dynamic business environments know this all too well.
SHAPING THE BRAIN
Our self-leadership skills play a crucial role in shaping our brains from moment to moment throughout our lives!
Our actions and decisions physically alter the physical structure of our brains - the neurons, synapses, and relative activity levels in different regions.
And our thoughts, emotions and attention - in other words, our minds - determine that activity!
LONDON CAB DRIVERS
For instance, a famous study, first conducted by neuroscientist Eleanor Maguire of University College London [1], showed that London taxi drivers have larger hippocampi, one of the central brain regions involved in visuospatial orientation.
That was true around 2000 when the research was conducted and before everyone had a GPS on their phone!
Then, the cab drivers had to spend much of their daily time memorising and navigating London's windy, confusing streets, which have grown tremendously since then.
As a result, their brains developed to make them better at doing that, or in other words...
? Their minds shaped their brains!
EMOTIONAL REFLEXES
Emotional reflexes are feelings that are most clearly reactions to external events. Typically, we respond to something that happens in our immediate physical environment (although new information can have a similar effect).
When managed effectively, emotional reflexes can profoundly affect brain activity!
For instance, when we consciously work towards becoming happier, there is increased activity in the left prefrontal region of our brain - a clear indication that we can use our minds to change our brains for the better.
? We're always doing so, whether we want to or not!
Just as someone who spends all day sitting on a couch adapts to couch-sitting, while someone who lifts heavy objects becomes better at deadlifting, our brains constantly adapt to how we focus our thoughts and attention.
Spending more time being calm or happy strengthens the brain regions associated with being precisely that - calm and happy.
This process produces a 'resilient affective style' [2].
This style is marked by high baseline activity levels in the left prefrontal cortex, rapid modulation of stress responses in the amygdala, quick recovery from stressful events, and lower baseline stress hormone levels.
In simpler terms, it means that by reinforcing positive mental habits...
? We can develop a more resilient and less stressed brain!
TAKEAWAY
The conclusion of these findings' main advice for executives, leaders, and entrepreneurs is to...
Avoid losing their temper over minor inconveniences or fixating on unchangeable bad news!
Instead, they should focus on reinforcing positive mental habits that will strengthen the physical structures in their brain, making them better at their tasks and less prone to negative thinking in the future.
This insight is a powerful tool for self-improvement and effective leadership, and evidently, how executives, leaders, and entrepreneurs regulate their minds today will shape the brains they have tomorrow!
Ultimately, exemplary leadership is not about how they feel at a particular moment but about focusing on facts that lead to measurable results and desired outcomes.
. . .
. . .
#LeadershipDevelopment #ExemplaryLeadership #LeadershipHabits