Combining Mind-Body Health & Leadership In A Systematic Way

4 min read

25 January 2022

When I studied neuroleadership a few years ago I was blown away by the amount of information available relating to our brains in the context of the workplace, and at the same time challenged by the complexity and how to put it in a format that could help organisations understand it and apply it.

I was thrilled to come across the i4 Neuroleader Program, as it combines mind-body connection, health, wellbeing and leadership in a systematic way. The depth and rigour of the model and all the resources is impressive, and the design and presentation of all the materials makes for a very appealing package that I’m looking forward to sharing with clients.

Something that’s struck me is the incredible value for participants with the range and quality of the resources provided as part of the i4 Neuroleader Platform, particularly compared with other development tools I’ve worked with previously. The modules themselves are so comprehensive, let alone the books and the documentary, in addition to the blogs and now the About my Brain YouTube Channel.

Going through the certification during the COVID pandemic has reinforced how much we need to better equip leaders to navigate unpredictable and tumultuous change. And the focus on developing a healthy brain-mind-body approach to leadership, culture and wellbeing is vitally important. I think many organisations will be looking for solutions to help them rebuild and refocus, with the recognition that many people are chronically stressed, if not burnt out, and disengaged, including the leaders themselves.

And given that movements like the Mass Resignation are on the horizon, leaders now more than ever need fit brains and bodies to come up with creative solutions to how they’re going to handle it. Many sacred cows of how things have to be at work have now been thrown out the window, so it’s also an exciting time for leaders to be imagining new possibilities.

For me personally, going through the certification and assessment debrief during and following my cancer treatment has been very helpful. It’s helped deepen my knowledge about brain integration and the need to prioritise things that keep me balanced rather than pushing through, as well as the need to improve my mental readiness.

Learning about biofeedback technologies such as Muse and Oura has been really helpful. I have them both now! The Oura ring has been especially useful in tracking my sleep quality and my HRV - the latter being something that I now realise is critical for good health, and mine has certainly benefitted from improvement.

The clear structure of the i4 Neuroleader Assessment Reports makes taking someone through their debrief very straight forward. And the new compendium that provides some context and extra information about each item is a great resource.

Something that struck me from revisiting the ‘Leadership is Upside Down’ book is the importance of differences in male and female brains, and the implications of this for leadership and culture. It’s certainly something I want to understand more and weave into my work with clients.

And one of the takeaways from watching the ‘Make Me a Leader’ documentary, (apart from the valuable facts and insights I gleaned for myself personally, along with being introduced to all the fabulous researchers who were featured), was how I could use the documentary itself as a way into engaging leaders in thinking about the key ideas and using the leadership strategies as a starting point for coaching them.

One of the consequences of my health challenge has been a deep exploration of what contributes to a breakdown of health and what helps to promote a healthy mind-body system that is resilient and able to heal itself. Taking care of the mind-brain is critical in maintaining good health.

Chronically stressed minds and bodies are a ticking time bomb, and so many people do not not even recognise how stressed they are because they’ve been operating that way for so long.

With this in mind, part of my future work focus is going to be educating and supporting leaders in recognising how their own levels of stress are affecting not only their performance and effectiveness at work but also compromising their health. The i4 Neuroleader Program will be a valuable platform to help me achieve this, both in terms of the 360-degree feedback process and the development resources available. One the other things I love about the platform are the greetings when you log into the dashboard - they always make me smile, so thank you!

Additionally, I can see the i4 Neuroleader Program being of interest and value to organisations that have been using tools like the LSI and OCI over a long time, and are looking for ways to revitalise their approach to building constructive cultures and leadership. i4 complements the core principles of constructive organisations, which are ultimately about being adaptive, and provides a whole other layer of richness in helping organisations to achieve this.

Interestingly, I recently connected with an organisation that’s reshaping itself on the principles and approaches of heart-based leadership, which I hadn’t heard of before. What amazed me was how well the philosophy and approach of the i4 Neuroleader Model & Methodology aligns with heart-based leadership, providing another possibility for using the i4 Neuroleader framework with organisations as a strategy in support of a broader vision.

Thank you to the About my Brain Institute team, particularly to Silvia and Relmi Damiano for all your hard work and commitment in creating this exceptional program, and giving people like me the opportunity to help share these resources and be part of the leadership revolution!