We are living in extraordinary times. Every day, we hear about new scientific discoveries, technological developments and business ideas that we’d not considered possible even a decade ago. The more we understand the biology of this complex organ, the more we can understand why we do the things we do and how we can improve our behaviours and wellbeing.
These discoveries are truly profound and exciting! Among them is the recent identification of 100 new regions in the brain, which have never been described before (Sciencemag.org 2016)! Imagine where we will be in the next 5 or 10 years?
In my quest to design a learning program which would help people easily integrate some of these amazing discoveries into their daily life, I ended up creating a holistic leadership & wellbeing Model & Methodology called the i4 Neuroleader™.
Our i4 Neuroleader™ Programs aim to develop the human behind the leader, with the purpose of enhancing sought-after 21st Century leadership competencies like performance, collaboration, innovation and agility.
It also identifies some of the natural capacities that we all possess, but may not use as often as we could. Based on my research, these capacities or abilities (outlined below) underpin these 21st century competencies. To read more about each i4 ability, check out my articles in this blog series below:
Integration leads to Performance
Explored in this article
Inspiration leads to Collaboration
Read article: ‘Enhance Collaboration Through An Inspiring Self’
Imagination leads to Innovation
Read article: ‘Triggering Innovation & The Permission To Imagine’
Intuition leads to Agility
Read article: ‘Explore Your Intuition for Agile Living’
People often ask me what they will learn in our programs and how they differ from others in the market. My response is quite simple:
The content we teach and the experiences we facilitate, help to awaken these latent abilities. We provide effective and measurable strategies & tools that participants can take away and easily implement in their work and home lives.
A recent example of how a participant has benefited, is through recognising that ‘feeling fatigued’ was not a normal way of being. By exploring the elements of the i4 Neuroleader™ Model she realised that the causes of her fatigue and lack of energy were poor eating habits and lack of sleep rather than simply ‘being too busy’. This was impacting significantly her moods and performance at work.
After putting strategies in place and better-understanding her biology, she felt more at ease. She was confident that the changes she was undertaking would lift her performance and provide the energy she needed to carry on with her busy life.
The capacity she specifically addressed was what I call ‘brain and body integration’ which is what I like to explore in this post.
See below 👇
Combining biological sciences and leadership has helped me recognise that a company is a system made up in turn by many individual systems. If our own “biological” system does not work well, it creates dysfunction, not just for us but for those around us. This impacts the team or the whole organisation.
Developing an understanding of when our brains function optimally or not, is one of the most valuable components of brain/body integration. Knowing when this system is in trouble helps us learn about the relationship between brain & behaviours - and what to do about it.
The collective health of an organisation is increasingly becoming a topic of interest for many companies. Some are investing in mindfulness sessions to help employees deal with a stressful day. This is a great start and should be embedded at all levels of an organisation. Burning out our leaders, top talent and staff is not the best way to create a high performing culture!
However, this is just one of many solutions to truly elevate people performance and transform culture. The integration of the brain and body that allows a person to perform at an optimal level involves not only how we manage our stress, but also managing our sleep, nutrition, physical activity and other relationships between our brain, gut and heart.
Understanding biology (and science in general), seems to be difficult for many people. The core of our programs is to make it accessible and relevant for everyday life. The disdain that many leaders display towards ‘soft skills’ fades away once we demonstrate the empirical evidence of how leadership, creativity, emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills can contribute to the bottom line once they are developed.
In the same way that music and dance brings humans together, science is fast becoming a new language that breaks down barriers and eliminates biases. When the only topic of conversation is around ‘business’ and we ignore the well-being of the human behind the leader we are lost. The further we stay away from addressing vital issues like stress, anxiety or other common health ailments that affect us the more trouble we are in.
Learning to be vulnerable and being willing to listen to other people’s afflictions, interests and ideas to improve health can elevate the quality and depth of the conversations. It creates a more trusting culture and better working environment.
Having a better grasp of your biology can impact positively on your well-being, overall performance and your leadership. We invite you to learn more about brain & body integration today! What are you waiting for?
Apart from improving this vital element in your life, there are many more reasons why you could consider broadening your current knowledge and immersing yourself in the teachings of i4. Our programs make people feel awakened, inspired, empowered and ready to take their leadership to a new level.
Citation:
Sciencemag.org (2016). Updated human brain map reveals nearly 100 new regions. http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/07/updated-human-brain-map-reveals-nearly-100-new-regions