Re-wire your brain to become a better leader

Apr 22, 2021 – 12.15am

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Leaders’ state of mind can have a significant impact on the stress levels and behaviour of their staff.

By understanding the way their brain works they can build more resilient and productive teams. They will be constantly aware of subliminal signals that can spread stress and confusion among team members. The practice will also help them understand how to inspire and build confidence by leading themselves as well as others.

Senior leaders can lead their teams more skilfully by consciously changing the way they operate internally, says Sharon Longridge.

“The interplay between our brain, our mind and our nervous system impacts the way we self-regulate, the way we lead ourselves, and also deeply affects the way we lead other people,” says Sharon Longridge, director of the Executive Presence for Senior Leaders program and the The Executive Voice program at Monash Business School.

“Senior leaders can lead their teams more skilfully by consciously changing the way they themselves operate internally, and by doing so they can make the difference between a productive workforce and a malfunctioning one, the difference between success and failure.”

Neuroscience shows the human brain is hardwired with a lightning speed detector for processing “threats” in the amygdala – an almond-shaped structure deep in the brain that can trigger a cascade of biological responses designed to protect us from danger.

When the “alarm bell” is triggered, the brain’s more rational executive functions in the pre-frontal cortex are bypassed, and people become more mentally rigid and defensive. Astute leaders understand this and ensure they frame their communications to decrease the likelihood of this happening.

Studies have also found that 90 per cent of the worries in our brain circuits are false alarms that never actually manifest, and that an unnecessary worry or stress circuit can be triggered by something as simple as an unintended facial expression or voice tone.

Clinical trials on neuroplasticity have proven the brain is malleable.

“We see this in the workplace all the time,” Longridge says. “Threats are imagined, misperceived or conflated. For example, you’re feeling anxious at work because your boss didn’t respond when you gave them some important information and you’ve internalised that as you’ve done something wrong, rather than just the boss hasn’t got to it yet.

“These micro moments of misperception and misreading people happen all the time, but they can be very costly to health and can send negative feedback loops throughout an entire team when the leader is not even consciously aware of it.”

Changing the way your brain works might seem outlandish. After all, it is the most complicated thing on earth with 100 billion neurons firing to form circuits that support thoughts, emotions and behaviours, but scientific research solidly supports the idea.

Clinical trials on neuroplasticity have proven the brain is malleable, and that conscious effort is capable of generating new circuits that increase situational awareness and promote new modes of behaviour.

“When you focus on self-leadership you learn to be the most effective version of yourself, and a kinder version of yourself,” Longridge says. “One of the things I teach leaders is to take physiological cues from their own body, which is linked to empathy.

“You can be mindful of the signals you are giving consciously, and you can be astute to cues you are picking up from other people. For example, interpreting the body language of a team member as not OK, despite them telling you everything is.

“The sum of this body-mind wisdom and this capability to manage ourselves directly interplays with our ability to effectively lead, inspire and coach others.”

Given the relentless nature of the demands leaders now face, their success now and into the future will depend on them being better equipped to refine and understand their own minds so they can deal with those around them in the most productive and inspiring way.