Self Control: The Elephant and The Rider
A key challenge facing all leaders is effectively regulating emotions to think, connect with others, and guide organizations through disruption.
Hacking Brain Science for Leaders confirms that emotions serve an evolutionary purpose and can produce more effective intuitions. But unchecked strong emotions like anger, anxiety, or sadness can sabotage judgment, relationships, and performance. As neuroscientist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor puts it, "You can't think clearly with a flooded limbic system. " Leaders who are adept at managing their emotions and supporting others’ emotional resilience have a competitive advantage.
Recent advances in neuroimaging, psychiatry, and psychology shed light on the neural mechanisms underlying emotions and how leaders can exert more intentional, science-based control over their inner world. Mastering a few research-backed regulation strategies allows leaders to role model rational thinking and optimal collaboration even amid volatility. This note summarizes critical evidence-based pathways to emotionally intelligent leadership.
Top-down control through the prefrontal cortex
The human brain features interconnected but functionally distinct regions. The evolutionarily older limbic system, centered on the amygdala and hippocampus, generates emotions based on inputs from the senses, body, and memories. The prefrontal cortex (PFC), located behind the forehead, specializes in executive functions like planning, prioritizing, impulse control, and regulating emotions. While the limbic system provides important emotional instincts and motivation, the PFC can exert top-down control to keep feelings and responses appropriate, just as the rider directs the elephant in psychologist Jonathan Haidt’s metaphor.?
Haidt's "The Elephant and the Rider" is a metaphor introduced in his book The Happiness Hypothesis to describe the relationship between two main aspects of human nature: our emotional side and our rational side. In this metaphor, the Elephant represents our emotional and instinctive side, which is powerful and often drives our behavior. The Rider, on the other hand, symbolizes our rational and conscious side, which can plan, deliberate, and make decisions.
The main idea behind this metaphor is to illustrate the struggle that often occurs between our immediate desires (the Elephant) and our long-term goals and reasoning (the Rider). The elephant, being much larger and stronger, often has the upper hand in this struggle, meaning our emotions and instincts can overpower our rational thought processes. However, the Rider is not without influence—it can guide and direct the Elephant, but it requires skill, effort, and persistence. Haidt uses this metaphor to explain why changing habits or making long-term life changes is challenging. It’s not enough for the Rider to decide on a change; the Elephant must also be motivated to move in that direction.
Effective change comes from aligning the desires of the Elephant with the direction the Rider wants to go, using strategies that appeal to both. For instance, if someone wants to adopt a healthier lifestyle (a decision made by the Rider), they must also find a way to make healthy choices appealing to the Elephant—perhaps by focusing on the enjoyment of feeling healthier or finding physically active hobbies that they enjoy. The "Elephant and the Rider" metaphor serves as a valuable tool for understanding human behavior, motivation, and the complexity of making personal changes. It highlights the importance of addressing both our emotional and rational selves in the process of change.
This newsletter was extracted from one of my new books:
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