LEADERSHIP, WITH A TWIST
Today, when Indian leadership stands at the threshold of change, we highlight the newest discovery in the area of leadership — neuroscience. Vinnie Bhadra has the details
When you sit on the dining table, you know that the food is supposed to be chewed, the spoon is supposed to help you eat and the food is supposed to have a particular taste, right? Ever wondered why?
For us, it may seem natural a process, that does not require you to think and process the information, but something that your brain orders your body to do, right? In simple words, this is neuroscience. Now, to think that a concept like this can be implemented for better leadership, people management and employee productivity?
Ever wondered why bringing about a change is a herculean task? Why is it that the human mind rejects change in any form? “That is just how our brain is designed. There is a part of your brain called basal ganglia, which is invoked with routine/familiar activity. This part of the brain is located near the core, where neutral circuits of long-standing habits are formed and held. This part of the brain requires much less energy to function than working memory, the simple logic behind this is because there is a habit and pattern formed and your action/reactions and feelings are already compartmentalised accordingly,” says Dr. Chaitali Shah, psychiatrist, Columbia Hospital, New York.
However, if in everyday life you are faced with any kind of change from your routine or familiar activities, there is a huge resistance from your prefrontal cortex towards the working memory, i.e the part of your brain that is constantly active and absorbs everything around you.
“Most managers stick to the routine; in short, the basal ganglia (prefrontal cortex) is running the show and you are only a bystander and when there is an effort to change the hardwired habits, it requires a lot of effort,” adds Ravi Sharma, MD, NeoSynapses (a firm that works with the latest research on the human brain and focuses on how these findings can help in better people management).
Simply translated, this means that for a leader to introduce effective change, he/she should try and bring the team out of the comfort zone and make them use their working memory by introducing team exercises that require basic knowledge. “When the human brain is forced to use the working memory, it does a fantastic job by coming up with unique solutions,” adds Shah. When one applies the scientific reasoning to a change management situation, the technique to make people accept is easier. “People are resistant to change. If one can understand the concept behind the human brain, it would be easier to implement change,” adds Adil Malia, group president, HR, Essar.
Many scientists feel that giving the human brain a free rein could be dangerous, as it has the capacity to redefine everything it ever learnt, but the sheer brilliance of the same can lead to mind-boggling results!
:MY VIEW ON THIS ARTICLE:
This article helps us to understand about leadership scientifically because comfort zone we always like to work but a leader can use mind to make a great leadership skills.
Article Shared By Us From Following Link of Times Ascent.
http://bit.ly/dTMA9v BY VINNIE BHADRA TIMES
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