The neuroscience behind leadership is a field of expertise that came up in the early 2000s. Using the scientific field of neuroscience in leadership development means that we use scientific research on how the brain works, to better manage and understand how we can support leaders in several areas like decision making, problem solving, emotional regulation, facilitating change and collaborating with and influencing others.

By utilising brain-based methods and models, we create more effective and long-term behavioural change instead of short-term solutions. We create insight to foster awareness, leading to mindset change. This motivates behavioural change and shows which skills to adapt or develop.

As Professor Ronald Duren Jr. of the University of Colorado Boulder explains in his E-book: “One of the key findings in neuroscience is neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to change and adapt in response to our experiences. This means that we can rewire our brains through intentional practice and repetition, allowing us to develop new habits, skills, and ways of thinking that can lead to personal excellence. (Duren Jr, The Neuroscience of Leadership, Leading with the brain, p.4)’’⁴

Our brain influences our emotions, thoughts and behaviours. Therefore, if we understand how our brain does this, we can adapt with intention. We can alter our habits, interact from a place of self-awareness, and understand and manage our emotions.

We have a social brain that experiences the workplace as a social environment. Our brain is constantly scanning and responding to its environment, and our emotions and behaviours are heavily triggered by everything that happens around us. Coupled with the fact that scientific research has shown that physical pain and social pain activate the same brain areas⁵, we know that the way we experience our interactions at work can trigger stress responses in the brain.

While a bit of stress is healthy and helps us focus, a continuously high stress response in the brain can negatively affect our ability to function effectively and obstructs our use of executive function, such as solution focused thinking, analytical thinking, creativity and decision-making ability. By using, for example, the SCARF model, change processes can find more receptibility amongst employees and threat responses in the brain can be mitigated.³

Sjierly Pereira Consulting uses brain-based science in its approach to personal development, in understanding how to effectively and constructively lead and influence others (through change processes – if relevant) and in how to support high-performing teams for optimal performance.

For further information on neuroscience and leadership, find the sources used for and referred to on this website here.