Colleen Lightbody and Mary-Joe Emde
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What is NeuroLeadership
Neuroleadership is the term coined in 2006 by Dr David Rock. It defines the field of study and exploration that involves looking at leadership development and human performance improvement through the lens of understanding how the brain works.
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What is the purpose of this field?
The purpose of the Neuroleadership movement is to help organizations of all types fulfill their potential the human brain functions, at an individual, team and systemic level..

2012 Summit –Leadership and the Collective
Day 1 – Can radical transparency drive business results –
Dan Radecki / Ryan Smith / Mark Effron
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Quick exercise
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Can Radical Transparency Drive Business
Results?
Transparency: No Clear definition/research
Management: 2,598
Leadership: 893
Transparency: 3 (Bridgewater associates and HCL Technologies)
People leaning towards it and we need more examples
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QUALTRICS
• Ryan Smith
• Private research software firm
• FAST GROWING – 20% workforce new in last 90 days
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• “We hire people to think and execute” – we can only control their environment not them
• Therefore Transparency
• Short term focus
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THREE KEY AREAS
1.
FOCUS (where are companies focusing)
2.
ENGAGEMENT
3.
GROWING TALENT
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ODO (Internal system)
• Each employee has Quarterly objectives and results in detail including revenue and satisfaction targets;
• Weekly snippets of each individual's goals for the week;
– Shared info
– Silent employees noticed
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• Up to the minute performance reviews, ratings, and bonus structures;
• Noted successes and failures, with notes for everyone to learn from;
• Career history at Qualtrics
• Meeting notes from all meetings
• Office security camera footage

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- Distractions
- Conflicting goals
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Lieberman (2007) Ann Rev Psych

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X-System (automatic)
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex (VMPFC)
Basal Ganglia (BG)
Amygdala (A)
C-System (controlled)
Lateral Prefrontal Cortex (LPFC)
Medial Prefrontal Cortex (MPFC)
Dorsomedial Prefrontal Cortex (DMPFC)
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Lieberman (2007) Ann Rev Psych

 The ACC is important for detecting discrepancies between the expected (or desired) state and the actual state.
 It ’ s like an alarm system, monitoring the environment for “ errors ” in expectation.
 Adaptive in the right dose, if the error detection circuitry fires too often it brings on a state of anxiety.
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THREE KEY AREAS
1.
FOCUS
2.
ENGAGEMENT (How do you get engagement quickly into our objectives)
3.
GROWING TALENT
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 Without certainty, prediction would be very difficult
 Brain craves certainty in order to minimize energy constraints on the PFC
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 Certainty is rewarding and linked to dopamine release
 Uncertainty is perceived as a threat and inhibits dopamine release
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Amygdala Mid-Insula
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Sarinopoulos et al. (2010) Cerebral Cortex 21

 Even just the slightest feeling of autonomy can substantially change our brain ’ s perception of an event
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 More autonomy can alleviate the stress response
 Gallup research – autonomy
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THREE KEY AREAS
1.
FOCUS
2.
ENGAGEMENT
3.
GROWING TALENT (How to move away from the political
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Ventrolateral
Prefrontal
Cortex
(VLPFC)
Ventral
Striatum
Anterior
Insula

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Radical Transparency
• What do you think?
• Applications? Eg Sport Teams, Families, Classroom
• Personal Transparency
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Colleen Lightbody and Mary-Joe Emde
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