From Burnout To Brain-Based Breakthroughs
A few years ago, I experienced extreme burnout and chose to leave my executive leadership position in the corporate world. As a leader of shared services, I had responsibility for developing our people programs (HR) as well as leading IT, legal, customer service, and project coordination. The organization had won multiple awards including the Gallup Global Exceptional Workplace Award three years in a row.
I couldn’t understand how despite implementing all the best practices and winning awards for them, I ended up in a state of extreme burnout. I began a journey to determine what I was missing from my current knowledge and understanding of people and performance. I quickly discovered how misaligned many present work practices are with the neuroscience of human performance.
In my opinion, the time has come for workplace transformation and evolution to new and improved practices that better support the humans within them. When leaders better understand how and why their current behaviors might be negatively impacting the humans they are leading, it can lead to significant transformation and growth. Many leaders (like I was) are simply unaware of the science that supports a different methodology and approach to people than we’ve used historically.
I am passionate about the possibilities that exist when workplaces decide to leverage a neuroscience-based approach to performance. In doing so, they have the opportunity to unlock greater human potential, optimize people’s performance, and expand people’s capacity to perform in spite of the challenges in the world today. The result of doing so will be not only better engagement, performance, and business results, but also improved well-being and experiences for their people.
One result of my deep dive into the neuroscience of human performance was a desire to identify an assessment that could be used with leaders to bring awareness to these critical capabilities. I recognized a high-quality 360 assessment could help leaders become more aware of their current state by seeking feedback from those who they interact with regularly.
After completing the mBIT Certification (multiple brain integration techniques) created by the late Grant Soosalu that emphasized the importance of integrating our multiple intelligences and applying them in our lives, I wanted to find an assessment that incorporated this approach. I’ve seen the transformative power of aligning and integrating our multiple intelligences to solve problems, make decisions, improve performance and relationships. Therefore, I wanted an assessment that included not just the concept of the head brain but also the heart and gut brains.
As part of my search, I came upon the phenomenal award-winning “Make Me A Leader” documentary released in 2018, that included Grant and his work on mBIT. The documentary highlighted the many ways leadership practices need to change to support people in the VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) world we are in today.
The documentary presented seven leadership strategies to become more compassionate and effective leaders all based on research and scientific discoveries about the human body. The key leadership strategies were meant to lay the foundation for what would be needed in this ever-changing world.
Despite the documentary being a few years pre-pandemic, the concepts within it are even more relevant in the world we are living and working in today. In many ways the documentary predicted the experience that most people are having today with respect to leadership and performance in the workplace. The sense that we need leaders who have a basic understanding of the science of human performance.
My Journey with the i4 Neuroleader™ Certification
I began researching the About my Brain Institute, i4 Neuroleader™ Assessment, and Certification and quickly realized it was the perfect fit. I was excited to take the assessment and get started on the certification.
When I first started the journey, I thought I would quickly move through the material, integrate the insights, and begin offering the assessment. However, as I embarked on my journey, I immediately discovered the i4 Neuroleader™ Assessment, content, and supporting materials were more substantial than I anticipated.
Instead of quickly moving through the material, I found myself diving deep into the lessons that provided an in-depth understanding of the concepts and how best to apply and use them. Unlike some certifications that are primarily about completion, this program delivered lessons with the best brain-friendly practices taught by a multitude of experts.
As a result, I found myself motivated, engaged, and truly learning valuable and relevant information I could immediately make use if in my own life. The variety of instructors, supporting material, and quality of the content and delivery made my learning experience not just valuable but enjoyable. Upon completion of the materials, I’m compelled to return to them once again to continue gleaning more valuable insights and information.
The i4 Neuroleader™ Assessment was unlike any other assessment I have taken or encountered in my career. When I sat down for my debrief with Silvia Damiano, I was a bit nervous as I hadn’t seen my results yet. I’d spent the last few years working on my “brain-friendly” practices, but I was now self-aware enough to know I was still struggling in some areas.
The assessment provided a clear picture of where I was on my journey and the areas that still required attention and development. For years, I’d pushed myself to the breaking point trying to achieve my way to validation, self-worth, and recognition. As a result, I’d learned to entirely ignore most of the messages my body was sending me trying to warn me of the effects of my decisions.
Silvia was able to look at my assessment results and quickly help me unpack the contributing factors and what I could change or work on to improve. The accuracy and insights from the assessment only provided me additional motivation to learn more about the four pillars and the sixteen supporting competencies in the i4 Neuroleader™ Model.
The “quick” journey I had planned to take led me to spending almost a year on the material. I have watched and rewatched the various sections and spent considerable time putting this learning into practice with my clients. As I used the assessment with my clients, I was able to watch them have similar insights and become aware of challenges they had not ever considered before.
The supporting books Leadership is Upside Down and Brain Friendly Leadership also provide an abundance of strategies that can be applied and used around the pillars and competencies. The book presents a compelling case for leadership transformation and the need for more brain-based leadership capabilities in our leaders. I keep these materials within arms’ reach of my desk as I tend to pull them out and reference them frequently.
I am excited to leverage the i4 Neuroleader™ Model and Methodology in working with workplaces to create more brain-friendly workplaces. The i4 Neuroleader™ Assessment will now become part of our company’s Evolving Leaders program, allowing participants to truly understand the capabilities and competencies necessary for success in the world today.
This i4 Neuroleader™ Assessment complements the work we are doing in trying to evolve the past patterns and practices of workplaces to better support human performance and experiences at work. I am confident the leaders in our program will get the same value I experienced in going through the content and be able to leverage these insights to improve as leaders.
I am incredibly grateful to have found Silvia Damiano and the About my Brain Institute to partner with around the important topic of evolving our leaders and workplaces to better support the humans within them.
- Leadership & Culture (321)
- Brain Health & Wellbeing (201)
- Innovation (104)
- Performance (95)
- i4 Neuroleader (83)
- Our News (73)
- Collaboration (69)
- Agility (54)
- Practitioner Stories (43)
- In The Press (36)
- Balance (35)
- Integration (34)
- Make Me A Leader (33)
- Imagination (32)
- Awareness (27)
- Communication (26)
- Inspiration (24)
- Intuition (23)
- Brain-Friendly Channel (22)
- Curiosity (22)
- Courage (20)
- Attitude (18)
- Adaptability (16)
- Drive (15)
- Case Studies (14)
- Generosity (13)
- Ethics (9)
- Mental Readiness (9)
- Influence (8)
- Brain-Friendly Leadership (7)
- Oracle Cards (1)
- 1 September 2024 (4)
- 1 July 2024 (2)
- 1 June 2024 (6)
- 1 May 2024 (2)
- 1 April 2024 (3)
- 1 March 2024 (1)
- 1 November 2023 (1)
- 1 August 2023 (1)
- 1 July 2023 (2)
- 1 June 2023 (2)
- 1 May 2023 (4)
- 1 April 2023 (2)
- 1 March 2023 (7)
- 1 February 2023 (4)
- 1 January 2023 (1)
- 1 September 2022 (1)
- 1 May 2022 (3)
- 1 April 2022 (1)
- 1 March 2022 (5)
- 1 February 2022 (4)
- 1 January 2022 (4)
- 1 December 2021 (2)
- 1 November 2021 (4)
- 1 October 2021 (3)
- 1 September 2021 (6)
- 1 August 2021 (1)
- 1 April 2021 (1)
- 1 December 2020 (2)
- 1 November 2020 (1)
- 1 September 2020 (1)
- 1 August 2020 (1)
- 1 July 2020 (3)
- 1 June 2020 (4)
- 1 May 2020 (3)
- 1 April 2020 (4)
- 1 March 2020 (6)
- 1 February 2020 (4)
- 1 January 2020 (2)
- 1 December 2019 (3)
- 1 November 2019 (3)
- 1 October 2019 (5)
- 1 September 2019 (4)
- 1 August 2019 (4)
- 1 July 2019 (4)
- 1 June 2019 (5)
- 1 May 2019 (9)
- 1 April 2019 (9)
- 1 March 2019 (8)
- 1 February 2019 (7)
- 1 January 2019 (8)
- 1 December 2018 (5)
- 1 November 2018 (10)
- 1 October 2018 (16)
- 1 September 2018 (9)
- 1 August 2018 (10)
- 1 July 2018 (9)
- 1 June 2018 (8)
- 1 May 2018 (9)
- 1 April 2018 (9)
- 1 March 2018 (9)
- 1 February 2018 (8)
- 1 January 2018 (8)
- 1 December 2017 (6)
- 1 November 2017 (9)
- 1 October 2017 (9)
- 1 September 2017 (8)
- 1 August 2017 (10)
- 1 July 2017 (8)
- 1 June 2017 (8)
- 1 May 2017 (9)
- 1 April 2017 (8)
- 1 March 2017 (6)
- 1 January 2017 (3)
- 1 December 2016 (4)
- 1 November 2016 (5)
- 1 October 2016 (4)
- 1 September 2016 (2)
- 1 August 2016 (4)
- 1 July 2016 (4)
- 1 June 2016 (2)
- 1 May 2016 (3)
- 1 April 2016 (3)
- 1 March 2016 (7)
- 1 February 2016 (2)
- 1 January 2016 (5)
- 1 December 2015 (2)
- 1 November 2015 (2)
- 1 October 2015 (4)
- 1 September 2015 (2)
- 1 August 2015 (2)
- 1 July 2015 (1)
- 1 June 2015 (3)
- 1 May 2015 (4)
- 1 April 2015 (5)
- 1 March 2015 (3)
- 1 February 2015 (3)
- 1 January 2015 (3)
- 1 December 2014 (3)
- 1 November 2014 (3)
- 1 October 2014 (3)
- 1 September 2014 (5)
- 1 August 2014 (4)
- 1 July 2014 (5)
- 1 June 2014 (3)
- 1 May 2014 (1)
- 1 March 2014 (1)
- 1 December 2013 (2)
- 1 November 2013 (1)
- 1 July 2013 (1)
- 1 June 2013 (1)
- 1 May 2013 (3)
- 1 April 2013 (1)
- 1 March 2013 (2)
- 1 February 2013 (1)
- 1 January 2013 (2)
- 1 November 2012 (1)
- 1 October 2012 (1)
- 1 September 2012 (1)
- 1 August 2012 (2)
- 1 July 2012 (1)
- 1 June 2012 (1)
- 1 May 2012 (2)
- 1 April 2012 (1)
- 1 February 2012 (1)
- 1 January 2012 (1)
- 1 November 2011 (1)
- 1 October 2011 (3)
- 1 September 2011 (2)
- 1 July 2011 (1)
- 1 June 2011 (1)
- 1 May 2011 (1)
- 1 April 2011 (1)
- 1 March 2011 (1)
- 1 February 2011 (2)
- 1 January 2011 (4)
- 1 December 2010 (4)
- 1 November 2010 (3)
- 1 October 2010 (5)
- 1 September 2010 (4)
- 1 August 2010 (4)
- 1 July 2010 (3)
- 1 June 2010 (4)
- 1 May 2010 (7)
- 1 April 2010 (5)
Subscribe by email
You May Also Like
These Related Stories
No Comments Yet
Let us know what you think