Your Brain and Business: The Neuroscience of Great Leaders
Read Your Brain and Business: The Neuroscience of Great Leaders Online
Authors: Srinivasan S. Pillay
Your Brain and Business
The Neuroscience of Great Leaders
Srinivasan S. Pillay
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© 2011 by Srinivasan S. Pillay
Published by Pearson Education, Inc.
Publishing as FT Press
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Printed in the United States of America
First Printing March 2011
ISBN-13: 0-13-706444-6
ISBN-13: 978-0-13-706444-1
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Pillay, Srinivasan S.
Your brain and business : the neuroscience of great leaders/Srinivasan Pillay.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-0-13-706444-1 (hardback : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-13-706444-6
1. Executive coaching. 2. Leadership—Psychological aspects. 3. Management—Psychological
aspects. 4. Executive ability. 5. Brain. I. Title.
HD30.4.P485 2011
658.4'07124—dc22
2010031431
To Papa and the typewriter
Contents
Chapter 1. Relevance of Neuroscience to the Business Environment
What Is “Brain Science”?
The Development of Brain Science
How Does Brain Science Relate to the Personal, Managerial, and Organizational Problems That Coaches Face?
How Does the Application of Brain Science Help Coaches Deal with Their Clients More Effectively?
More Examples of How Brain Science Concepts Enhance Coaching When Dealing with Problems and Traps That Leaders Face
A Map of Where the Book Is Going and What the Coach Will Take Away from It
Conclusion
References
Chapter 2. How Does Positive Thinking Affect the Business Brain?
The Context
The Impact of Negative Emotions on the Brain
The Concepts
Concept 1
Concept 2
Concept 3
Concept 4
Concept 5
Summary of the Concepts as They Are Relevant to Coaches, Managers, and Leaders
The Impact of Negative Thinking on the Brain
Concept 1
Concept 2
Concept 3
Concept 4
Why Should Leaders Be Optimistic?
The Concepts and Their Applications to Coaches, Managers, and Leaders
Concept 1
Concept 2
Why Positive Emotions Matter
The Psychology of Mindfulness
The Psychology of Compassion
Conclusion
References
The Neuroscience of Empathy in Business
Concept 1
Concept 2
Concept 3
Beyond Empathy: The Neuroscience of Perspective-Taking in Business
Concept 1
Concept 2
The Neuroscience of Fairness
Concept 1
Concept 2
Concept 3
Concept 4
Concept 5
The Neuroscience of Trust
Concept 1
Concept 2
Concept 3
Concept 4
Summary of Concepts
The Neuroscience of Vicarious Reward
The Neuroscience of Community and Citizenship
The Neuroscience of Persuasion
Concept 1
Concept 2
The Neuroscience of Attachment
Concept 1
Concept 2
Concept 3
Concept 4
Concept 5
Conclusion
References
The Neuroscience of Innovation
The Neuroscience of Intuition
The Neuroscience of Body Language and Its Application to Thought
The Neuroscience of the “Impostor Syndrome”
The Neuroscience of Mirrored Self-Misidentification
The Neuroscience of the Summit Syndrome
The Neuroscience of Resilience
The Neuroscience of Expert Performance
The Neuroscience of Advice-Giving
Conclusion
References
Why Is Change Such a Challenge in the Human Brain?
Competing Forces
Biased Choice Value
Conditioning
What Is Happening in the Brain When Conditioning Occurs?
The Entrapment of Context
Motivated Reasoning
The Fundamental Concepts in Change: A Working Model
The Neuroscience of Commitment
Imagery vs. Observation
Action-Oriented Questions
Noise Reduction
Stimulate Short-Term Memory
Address the Emotional Elements Affecting the DLPFC
Conclusion
References
Organizational Context for Change
Model of the Relevance of Brain Science to Understanding Change
Relationship of the Neuron to Brain Change
Evidence that Brain Change Is Possible in Adulthood
Task Switching and the Brain: Relevance to Change
Memory and the Brain: Relevance to Change
Ironic Process Theory
Action and the Brain: Relevance to Change
Emotions and the Brain: Relevance to Change
Conclusion
References
Chapter 7. Coaching Brain Regions
Review of Brain Regions and Their Basic Functions
The Thinking Brain
The Feeling Brain
The Brain’s Reward System
The Brain’s Action System
The Insula
Summary
Regional Brain Interventions: Targeting Mechanisms for Coaches
Thinking Brain
The Feeling Brain
The Reward Brain (Ventral Striatum)
The Action Brain (Motor and Premotor Cortex)
The Insula
Conclusion
References
Chapter 8. Coaching Brain Processes
An Approach to Mirror Neuron Interventions
An Approach to Cognitive Perspective Taking
An Approach to Increasing Innovation
An Approach to Working with the Impostor Syndrome
An Approach to Managing Emotions
DLPFC (Short-Term Memory) Intervention
MPFC (Accountant) Intervention
ACC (Attention Monitor) Intervention: SAFE-Frame
Corpus Callosum (Brain-Bridge) Intervention
Motor (Action) Intervention
Reward (Basal Ganglia) Intervention
Amygdala Intervention
An Approach to Managing Cognitive Flexibility
An Approach to Managing Breach of Trust
ACC Intervention
Amygdala Intervention
Ventral Striatum, VTA, and Septal Nuclei Intervention
vmPFC Intervention
An Approach to Managing Ambiguity
Alternative Brain Probing (ABP): Brain-Based Insights into Alternative Strategies to Use When Encountering Resistance
Conclusion
References
Acknowledgments
I would like to acknowledge all those who believed that no meeting of ideas is impossible; in particular, the faculty of Wharton Business School and the people at FT Press. I would also like to acknowledge the continued inspiration of all those members of NeuroBusiness Group who have joined me in applying these basic principles to improve the lives of so many managers and leaders. Thanks to Alice Domar and Dave Ostrow for their generosity of spirit. And to Perry Zeus and Hendré Coetzee for encouraging me to pursue this line of thinking. Thanks also to Shervert Frazier for teaching me that understanding human psychology can be applied to any domain of human life and to Leston Havens for convincing me that the answers lie inside and that real power lies in the vulnerability of being human. Finally, to all those who love me and to those who allow me to love you—I could not have done this without you.