Canadian HR Reporter

STRATEGIC CAPABILITY NETWORK'S PANEL of thought leaders brings decades of experience from the senior ranks of Canada's business community. eir commentary puts HR management issues into context and looks at the practical implications of proposals and policies. CANADIAN HR REPORTER November 16, 2015 EXECUTIVE SERIES 11 www.scnetwork.ca Join our professional community of Canadian HR & Organizational Leaders: • Connecting @ monthly events • Collaborating with peers • Challenging conventional thinking The Power of Human Capital CULTIVATING LEADERSHIP FOR 35 YEARS Great Leaders GROW www.scnetwork.ca Neuroscience needs to tell people what to do Josh Davis, director of research at the Neu- roLeadership Institute in New York City, delivered to SCN an enjoyable 90 minutes about neuroscience and leadership: What exactly is going on in your brain while you do the things you're supposed to do as a leader? Davis — in an entertaining style that was simultaneously laconic and passionate — regaled the au- dience at the SCNetwork event with plenty of information and anecdotes. But wait — did we actually learn anything new? Surely — considering the accu- mulated human resources expe- rience in the room — we already know what to do with the four domains of neuroleadership: •making decisions and solving problems •regulating our emotions •collaborating with others •facilitating positive change. Surely we already know to fo- cus on behaviour, not the person; that too much stimulation is just as bad as not enough; that social exclusion is bad for collaboration; that it makes sense to curb your emotions; and that connecting the "why" to the "what" is important in change. I emerged from the session entertained and informed, but at a loss for what I might now do differently. It seems neuroscience tells us what is happening "under the hood" (as it were) but not what to do nor, more importantly, any new ways to do it (unless you hap- pen to be standing around with a glint in your eye and a syringe full of dopamine or norepine- phrine). Here's why, in my opinion, a room full of senior human re- sources practitioners came away enjoying the neuroscience ses- sion so much: e information provided our prefrontal cortex with proof that something is actu- ally happening when people lead effectively. We can now loudly proclaim, "Look, this stuff is real — it's scientific!" Our prefrontal cortex can now wrestle to the ground our limbic hand-wringing fear response, which can only stem from a lack of confidence in what it is we teach, promote and coach. We can now point to neuro- science and not to ourselves as experts. And how sad is that? Do we still have to justify ourselves in pro- moting the so-called soft skills of leadership? How many white papers, re- ports and, indeed, how much neuroscience will it take be- fore our customers — and our- selves — believe what we know to be true? Accountants don't justify themselves; nor do law- yers, teachers or chief executive officers. My hope is that neuroscience will get past justifying what we already know is right, and move on to explain what is happening when we don't do the things we know we should be doing, like di- agnosing and resolving why some leaders — perhaps even you and I — don't actually do the leading we should. Michael Clark is director of business development at Forrest & Company in Toronto, an organizational trans- formation firm, with over 25 years experience in developing the organi- zational and leadership capacity in organizations. Michael Clark Organizational Effectiveness Achieving the right balance in our heads What makes a leader? is question has been asked ever since the concept of a leader was first invented. Yet, here we are, many mil- lennia later with libraries full of books on this subject, and still we struggle to find the answer. Josh Davis and his colleagues at the NeuroLeadership Institute are trying to help by approaching the issue from a different perspective. ey are mapping the relation- ships between the desired traits of a leader and how her brain functions. ey are showing us what ar- eas of a leader's brain are affected and what chemicals are released, depending on her actions or reactions. For instance, they have found the same area of the brain — the anterior cingulate cortex, to be precise — is stimulated whenever we experience either social pain or physical pain. Another area of the brain is also stimulated when we experience a decrease in social pressure or physical pain. Establishing links Davis and his team are using this information to establish links be- tween our behaviours in certain situations and what areas within our brains respond so we can bet- ter control our behaviours and thus become better leaders. is takes practice. We have to become more aware of our ac- tions and understand why they are occurring: "When I talk in this manner, what emotion is driving me?" More importantly, "How can I control or change it?" Being mindful of our conduct will help us better govern our behaviours and actions. One way to approach this goal is to imagine we each have two brains. One is our "worker brain" and the other is our "manager brain." Our worker brain performs all our actions, including ver- bal, emotional and physical. Our manager brain watches this worker brain and directs it accordingly. An example of this would be when we are having a conversa- tion with someone and, at the same time, evaluating what we are saying, how we are saying it (such as our tone of voice), noticing we are suddenly feeling happy, sad, angry or frustrated, for example, and also watching how the person is reacting. Increasing management skills e challenge most of us have is increasing the management skills of our manager brain. By doing so, it might not only help us avoid a lot of embarrassing moments, it might also make us a much better person. Davis says the four primary do- mains in which the manager brain can be employed are: problem- solving, controlling emotions, interacting with others, and fa- cilitating positive change. The prefrontal cortex of our brains is the main area in which problem-solving activities take place while our emotions are formed within the limbic system, located at the centre of our brain. e goal is to get these two re- gions to work in harmony. Balancing 2 chemicals According to the NeuroLeader- ship Institute, the best way to accomplish this is to achieve the right balance between two chem- icals produced in the brain: nor- epinephrine and dopamine. Norepinephrine is like adrena- line for the brain. It stimulates us, giving us a sense of urgency and alertness. Dopamine focuses our atten- tion. It dampens down any ex- traneous "noise" or distractions, enabling us to concentrate more effectively on the issue at hand. e challenge is to get the right dosage of each. Too little of either fails to energize us enough to properly achieve the task at hand, while too much causes negative effects, such as stress and anxiety. So balance is important, and this is where the manager brain comes in. It must be aware of the stress levels being created and tell the worker brain when to cool it. e best way to do this is to utter a single word to ourselves, such as "calm." And the best way to express this word is to either say it out loud or write it down. Keep it to just one word because more than that can actually increase stress and anxi- ety levels further. Co-operation needed To achieve our goal, be it a busi- ness goal or a personal goal, we need the co-operation and assis- tance of others. To get this, we have to commu- nicate in a calm, positive, rational fashion. Essentially, we have to keep our worker brain in check. It sounds like a lot to perform but once we have created the pro- cess and practised it several times, it will become a habit. New neurons will be created, new neuro-communication chan- nels will be developed, neuroplas- ticity will take effect and, soon, we will be different people — people equipped to lead others in a much more effective way. Morgan Smyth is an SCNetwork thought leader and a change manage- ment consultant who launched his own IT services company which soared to Profit Magazine's 50 Fastest Grow- ing Companies. He is based in Toron- to and can be reached at msmyth@ braegen.com. Morgan Smyth Leadership in Action Dopamine focuses our attention. It dampens down any extraneous "noise" or distractions, enabling us to concentrate. We can now loudly proclaim, "Look, this stuff is real — it's scientific."

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