Brain Science and Leadership PDF

Professional Business Women of CA Webinar
November 2016
Brain Science and Leadership: How can the

latest information about the brain make us
better leaders?
Jen Cohen, Seven Stones Leadership Group
www.sevenstonesleadership.com
Brain Science and Leadership:
How can the latest information about the brain make us better leaders?
Understanding the latest research about how the brain works can
shift how we lead and how we build our organizations – and
really, how we do just about everything. Some of the most
pervasive habits in the work-world today, such as multi tasking,
operating on little sleep, moving at high speeds, having many
screens open at once – often all done in the name of efficiency –
actually dramatically decrease higher brain function inhibiting our
creativity, our innovation and our ability to perform. Learn how to
befriend your brain and create an optimal environment for you to
thrive in your leadership by diving into cutting edge information
about neuroscience.
Introduction
Jennifer Cohen is co-founder of Seven Stones Leadership
Group, a professional services firm that develops
organizational leadership and works with individuals on their
personal journeys. She is a leadership and organizational
coach and consultant with 20 years in the field coaching
hundreds of individuals and groups. Jennifer’s fresh approach
is informed by communication theories ranging from
quantum physics and philosophy to neuroscience and
Somatics. She loves working with social entrepreneurs,
visionary thinkers, and leaders who know they must develop
the capacity to shift with this quickly changing landscape.
Agenda
• Introduction
• The Truth about Reality
• Choosing to Unwind
• Creating a New World
• Q & A and dialogue
“UNDER DURESS, WE DO
NOT RISE TO THE LEVEL OF
OUR EXPECTATIONS ― WE
FALL TO THE LEVEL OF OUR
TRAINING.”
― BRUCE LEE
The Truth about Reality
• The brain is not designed for multi-tasking
• When we are overloaded we go into fight, flight or
freeze (survival mode)
• High-order thinking and creation happens in the neo-
cortex, which shuts off when we are in survival mode
• More is not better
• Your leadership depends on your inner climate
• You are an open loop system
The Amygdala Hijack
Moving from
Below the Line to
Above the Line:
Fight, Flight, Flow
Limbic Regulation
“Human physiology finds a hub…in the harmonizing activity of nearby limbic brains. Our neural
architecture places relationships at the crux of our lives, where blazing and warm, they have the
power to stabilize…People do not learn emotional modulation as they do geometry or the names of
state capitals. They absorb the skill from living in the presence of an adept external modulator, and
they learn it implicitly…A spontaneous capacity germinates and becomes a natural part of the self,
like learning to ride a bike or tie one’s shoes.”
Limbic Resonance
“Every person broadcasts information about his inner world…If a listener quiets his neocortical
chatter and allows limbic sensing to range free, melodies begin to penetrate the static of
anonymity…As the listener’s resonance grows, he will catch sight of what the other sees inside that
personal world, start to sense what it feels like to live there…The first part of emotional healing is
being limbically known – having someone with a keen ear catch your melodic essence…”
Limbic Revision
“…Revising the neural code that directs an emotional life…Somewhere in a person’s brain lie the
myriad connections embodying his limbic knowledge – the strong Attractors that end emotional
perceptions and guide actions in love…The neocortical brain collects facts quickly. The limbic brain
does not. Emotional impressions shrug off insight but yield to a different persuasion: the force of
another person’s Attractors reaching through the doorway of a limbic brain of another…When a
limbic connection has established a neural pattern, it takes a limbic connection to revise it."
Window of Tolerance
When we are able to widen our window of tolerance, we can enjoy more smooth
sailing regardless of the waves, obstacles and adventures we encounter.
From: Mindful Awareness Stabilization Training/mast.stmichaelshospital.com
Homeostasis
is a dynamic
balance
between the
autonomic
branches.
The Choice to Unwind
• We create a vicious cycle of doing more to get out of our
overwhelm.
• Being willing to pause and choose something new takes
courage.
• We are what we practice.
• You have already done enough.
• Unwinding the scarcity mindset.
“TO ALLOW ONESELF TO BE
CARRIED AWAY BY A
MULTITUDE OF CONFLICTING
CONCERNS, TO SURRENDER TO
TOO MANY DEMANDS, TO
COMMIT ONESELF TO TOO
MANY PROJECTS, TO WANT TO
HELP EVERYONE IN EVERYTHING,
IS TO SUCCUMB TO THE
VIOLENCE OF OUR TIMES.”
― Thomas Merton
Creating a New World
• The leaders mindset of Enough
• Centering
• Choosing what really matters
• Lining up our practices to support our unwinding
“He who aspires to
Deepening govern the city
Presence needs to learn to
govern himself.”
– Socrates
“By staying present

and aware of what is
happening the leader
can do less and
achieve more.”
– The Tao of
Leadership
A Few Underlying Principles
We Are What We Practice
• Our practices:
– Are often historical
– Are based on survival patterns we learned as children
– Do not allow for innovation
– Betray the future we say we are committed to producing
– Are automatic and invisible to us
• We are a living system, a structure
– Structure shapes behavior
– Practice alters structure
• Energy follows awareness
– Choice follows awareness
– Power and effective action follow choice
About Finding Center
• “Center” is a balance of:
– Effective Action
– Emotional Presence
– Mental Alertness
– Spiritual Vision
• Center increases our ability to:
– Tolerate Uncertainty
– Listen Compassionately
– Align With What You Really Care About
– Be Effective
– Access Our Own & Other’s Wisdom
– Produce Integrity
“He told Joe there were times when he “He told Joe there were times when he
seemed to think he was the only fellow in the boat, as if it was up to him to row
the boat across the finish line all by himself.
When a man rowed like this he said, he was bound to attack the water rather
than to work with it, and worse, he was bound not to let his crew help him row.”
-Boys in the Boat
Jennifer Cohen
S E V E N S TO N E S L E A D E R S H I P G R O U P
jen@sevenstonesleadership.com
@jencohen @7stones

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Professional Business Women of CA Webinar

Brain Science and Leadership: How can the

From: Mindful Awareness Stabilization Training/mast.stmichaelshospital.com

“By staying present

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