Neuroscience is the study of our brain and nervous system. It looks into how each of these things works and what impact their day to day functions have on our capabilities and emotions.
Neuroleadership, on the other hand, is a term coined in 2006 by the CEO of Results Coaching Systems. It takes the findings of neurosciences and applies them to the field of management and leadership.
Business owners and managers alike are often looking for ways to become a better leader. So, turning to this fairly modern approach will allow you to focus on how we make decisions, collaborate with others and carry out our roles in the workplace.
Delving more into the inner workings of our mind and body will help us to understand why we do the things we do. As a result, you will be able to adapt and find new strategies that improve your capabilities in a leadership role.
A Bit More On Neuroleadership
This approach makes us think about the best practices for management and how these are affected by the physiology of the brain. The idea behind this is to create a more influential and uniform practice regarding leadership training, coaching and mentoring.
Scientists and academics working in this field continue to study particularly productive individuals and those that are highly rated in their field. Information is gathered based on their strengths and how they operate in different situations. This may include their ability to:
- Influence others
- Solve problems and implement innovative solutions
- Make decisions
- Collaborate with people above and below them in business
- Control emotions
- Motivate their teams and themselves
- Carry out changes
Applying the facts and figures of neuroscience to this more abstract idea has produced a rapidly developing field. As a result, we have new insights to become a better leader and re-learn habits that may be holding us back.
But how exactly does neuroscience play a part in impacting our leadership skills?
1. Managing Stress
That’s right. If you want to live a stress-free life, why aren’t you just listening to your head?
While it might not be quite that easy, there are applications within neuroscience that allow us to understand our bodies’ reactions to stress and when we might be most at risk of the negative effects.
If we become overwhelmed at work or get thrown into an uncomfortable situation, our fight or flight response may activate. This is where rash decisions can be made or uninformed changes implemented without proper consideration.
Neuroscience in the workplace provides leaders with the ability to realise when this response has been activated. The benefit of this is catching on to not only your own boundaries but those of your employees too.
Once you are able to identify this, your management skills become heightened and you can minimise the impact of these reactions as early as possible. You will be more able to create an environment whereby the team feels understood and settled in a role that meets their needs. As a result, you’ll see a great increase in productivity levels and job satisfaction.
Long-term, your business will see more adaptable individuals who have been given emotional and personable guidance. A reduction in burnouts and client or colleague conflicts is one of the most valuable outcomes from this approach to become a better leader.
2. Improved Mentoring
Onboarding and continued learning and development are essential parts of leadership. To lead means to be able to direct people, offering support and advice that allows them to excel. Neuroscience gives us a deeper understanding of how people’s brains work that can help you become a better leader and offer the highest standards of support.
Essentially, we can understand what makes them tick and how they learn best. Different characters will prefer varied methods of managing and training. While it is partially up to them to let you know what they need to produce the best work – it is also going to benefit you to recognise potential.
Neuroscience offers insight into the types of people who perhaps need more micromanagement and support and those who will work best independently. Identifying this from the get-go will make onboarding far more successful. It mitigates the risk of unnecessary skills tests and wasting management time on capable employees.
Not only will this ensure your time is used wisely, but it will allow your team to succeed. This benefits the person in that they are allowed to work in the way that suits them best. As a result, the company will benefit from the most effective, productive results.
3. Facilitating Change
The applications behind neuroleadership come from the findings related to highly successful leaders, managers and entrepreneurs. These are the people that are going to have the most say in implementing new strategies or getting rid of old ones.
Because of this, we can draw on the usual theories that would help us address change. But we can also consider the inner workings of our own brain and that of clients, stakeholders or anyone who is due to be affected.
The advantage of this is having a clearer, more level-headed view of the situation and being able to jump in with innovative yet balanced solutions. Neuroscientific applications can also help us understand people’s aversion to change. We can link this back to stress and seeing uninformed decisions impacting businesses negatively.
Cause and effect is a complicated area to understand. However, neuroscience gives us this ability to empathise and as a result, we become capable of applying the right approach for the right situation. It will never suit everyone, but this broad knowledge makes it so we are at an advantage with any problem.
4. Engaging Your Team
Most of us thrive on social interaction. We are built to engage and form relationships. By doing so, we provide ourselves with more opportunities for creativity and growth. Within a workplace environment, these two things are critical. Not only for the quality of work we produce but for job satisfaction too.
Humans are driven by communication and engagement with other people like us. With a little bit of neurobiology thrown in – interactions with friends and colleagues can boost our moods and get those creative juices flowing.
The bits that fire in our brain when we do so will help keep us engaged and focused on the task at hand. Recognising this in your employees means you can create a stimulating and sociable atmosphere – allowing your team to thrive.
This will improve your leadership skills and ability to put together a diverse, inspiring team of people. Motivation is something we all lack from time to time. Having a manager that can keep you going and implement things to boost productivity will likely make you want to stick around and do a good job!
5. Regulating Emotions
The business world is one that throws curve balls left, right and centre. Now we’ve spoken about managing stress – but as humans, we go through plenty more emotions than just the one. Even at work.
From anger to excitement, both positive and negative emotions will take a toll on our problem-solving abilities and the way we present ourselves to colleagues, clients and managers. It might mean we react in a way we wouldn’t usually – causing a knock-on effect to the quality of our work or the quality of our judgement.
Have you ever been so excited to secure a new contract, or win a bid that it’s made you believe now is the right time to push forward with tons of growth strategies? We don’t blame you – but if you think back, was it actually the right time or were you way out of your depth?
Neuroscience helps us to understand these emotions far better and recognise when we are being influenced by other factors. As a result, we are in a far better position to regulate these extreme emotions and revert back to a level headed approach. If you want to become a better leader, this is one thing you can’t afford to skimp on.
Conflicts between yourself and team members will arise less frequently, you will be able to have valuable conversations and solve problems to the best of your ability. Employees will always appreciate a calm and collected management style. It makes life much easier and the job far more enjoyable.
Become A Better Leader With Azimuth
We’re all under varying levels of stress and cope with this differently. But utilising the applications of neuroscience and taking the time to understand our own minds will allow you to guide your employees.
Leading or managing is not just about delegating. It is important that we listen to and support those who need it most. Only by approaching problems from their angle will we be able to do this effectively.
We hope this article has shed some light on the benefit of neuroscientific insight and while you don’t have to be a seasoned academic to apply the principles – now is certainly the time to look into these strategies.
Get in touch today for more support, advice and information on where to begin!
You can reach us at enquiries@azimuth.eu.com or call 01483 24 33 81.
We will be more than happy to discuss how we can help you and with over 20 years of experience across a range of industries, we have the innovative, proven tools that can help you unlock the true potential of yourself – and your business. What are you waiting for?
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