SHELDR #3-2020: Weird Science: Strategic Health Neuro Leadership Anyone? STRATEGIC HEALTH LEADERSHIP (SHELDR) THOUGHT SERIES

Introduction

Note: Links will take readers to recommended books.

During my dissertation development process, I stumbled onto this: NEURO LEADERSHIP. There is an emerging body of research on the subject. It is rooted in neuroscience, neuroplasticity, positive psychology, and application of leadership principles.  Neuroscience has possibilities--unlocking cures for schizophrenia, autism, and Alzheimer's to healthier eating habits, and improving relationships. Why not leadership?

Sound weird? Maybe. Maybe not. Neuroleadership claims to integrate neuroscientific knowledge into leader development, change management, avoiding groupthink, and coaching. Applications such as mindfulness, an outgrowth of neuroscience is being popularized in corporate settings. Many books such as Imagine it Forward draw on these theories and applications—mental rehearsal similar to what professional athletes practice, meditation, mindfulness (an emerging trend), exercises, simulations, and catching your habitual triggers and rewiring them.  Please, do not roll your eyes. Keep reading.

Based on my initial research, leaders can enhance their strategic health leadership visionary, creativity, decision making, and relationship skills by becoming more aware of the brain’s thought process and, as a result, regulate it for positive effect. Many experts will refer to this as practicing mindfulness. Neuro leadership, as explained in the book Your Brain at Work, by Dr. David Rock and Kahneman's book Thinking Fast and Slow, has the potential to create more effective leaders adept at agile and adaptive thinking, creativity, and innovation. Wow, this reminds me of the book I read a few ago, The Whole Brain Business Book, Second Edition: Unlocking the Power of Whole Brain Thinking in Organizations, Teams, and Individuals. Many correlaries!

How it Works

According to neuroscientists, the brain has one central principle – to assess safety and threats. Brains are biased against negativity, affecting perceptions, thus affects thinking, mood, and, ultimately, relationships. Leaders’ process information in two ways: non-conscious and conscious, many do not recognize it. Some would say, leaders have fixed or open mindset and somewhere in between similar to the left (logic, analytical, rigid) and right (creative, social, and agile) side of our brains. For example, brains scan the environment every one-fifth of one second for cues and responses.

Then, the brain reacts with four thought processes: Emotion (non-conscious), feeling, thinking, and self-regulation (conscious). Unless regulated, the leader's brain may overreact or miss a cue to the point where concentration becomes dysfunctional (too biased or emotional), thus leading to unintended consequences—toxic culture, harm, poor decision, derailment. Furthermore, in this case, a regulated leadership time-out may be required.

Solutions and Possibilities

To self-regulate, call time-out, consciously or subconsciously. Leaders must learn to slow their thinking down, prioritize, and be adept at sensing the signals in the environment. Leaders need to understand how their thoughts and poor habits interact with their behavioral choices and develop leaders to be more cognizant of their thinking biases to find opportunity, be more resilient, and create net forward energy for the organization, thus, leading to positive outcomes. The goal is to adaptively manage emotion, feeling, and thinking so the prefrontal cortex can step in and effectively regulate actions. When done right, leadership is a life-long learning process.

Below are potential applications for individual leaders and organizations to:

§ Be more agnostic; induce "ah-ha’ thinking to improve visioning, futuring, and agile thinking

§ Be more creative and innovative; create a safe environment for more eureka moments

§ Learn how to become more mindful thus improving present moment awareness

§ Learn how to become more resilient and positive to create net forward energy

§ Learn how to trust their “gut feelings” and follow through on hunches and ideas more often

§ Understand other’s fears and anxieties more quickly and emphatically; then develop change management or communication strategies

Summary

I know, it sounds weird. According to the experts at the University of North Carolina Business School, neuro-leadership will apply neuroscience to leadership development, management training, change management education and consulting, and coaching. No, I am not asking you to 'hmmm,' but the practice of mindfulness to overcome biases and distracting habits related to leadership may make you more effective.

Think about it. A senior health executive education program could be designed to help individuals improve their effectiveness and move their organizations forward simultaneously.  Examples might be reframing discussions on strategy, creating cohesiveness around an aspirational vision, innovative redesigned products and services, improved systems thinking to streamline processes such as supply chains streamlined, less patient harm, leading to higher reliability, and truly empowered and excited participants to do the same within their sphere of influence.  

The signals are getting stronger and more prominent. By leveraging understanding of the brain, we can enhance leadership competencies, strategy execution, increase creativity, and improve employee engagement. Organizations such as the Strategic Leadership Institute are emerging, offering services such as neuro-based leadership development and brain minded safety culture transformation. As we improve our understanding of how the brain functions, we can transform how leaders think, develop, and perform.

Stay tuned. Start practicing mindfulness.

About the Author: Douglas “DrQD” Anderson, DHA, MSS, MBA, FACHE shares his 30+ years of experience and research as a consultant, coach, speaker, facilitator, and educator on strategic management and thinking, CQI, communication, and strategic health leader (SHELDR) development. His focus is on helping local communities integrate social services with healthcare delivery systems. He is coauthor of Health Systems Thinking: A Primer and Systems Thinking for Health Organizations, Leadership, and Policy: Think Globally, Act Locally. Follow him on Twitter: @Doug_Anderson57 and his Strategic Health Leadership (SHELDR) E-Zine. Contact him at douglas.e.anderson57@gmail.com for opportunities to help you and your team succeed.

Disclosure and Disclaimer:  Douglas E. Anderson have no relevant financial relationships with commercial interests to disclose. The author’s opinions are his own and do not represent an official position of any organization including those he consulted. Any publications, commercial products or services mentioned in his publications are for recommendations only and do not indicate an endorsement. All non-disclosure agreements (NDA) apply.

References: All references or citations will be provided upon request. Not responsible for broken or outdated links, however, report broken links to douglas.e.anderson57@gmail.com

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