Do you know the 5 Steps to Change Your Brain for Better Leadership?

2015-08-25T16:51:12-04:00

Do you know the 5 Steps to Change Your Brain for Better Leadership?

I invited the "A Team" to Respond. RP Members to you agree with approach or not (or) is it way to scientific for the average leader?

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/4-brain-changes-better-leadership-anne-perschel?trk=hp-feed-article-title-channel-add

SEE ENTIRE ARTICLE BELOW - LINK DOESN'T WORK

By Anne Perschel
Leadership Coach - Psychologist; Organization Development Consultant at Germane Consulting

Most leaders go off the rails at times, particularly under stress. That’s when the brain is most prone to shift into default behaviors.

Know Your Defaults
You probably know what your defaults look like in action, and possibly when they tend to show up. If not, ask someone close to you. They've seen those little devils from time to time. Maybe yours include:

Being overly directive when you’re near the end of your patience rope
Getting defensive when people give you feedback
Telling, when coaching would be best
Add yours here____________________
Find Your Triggers
Stress is the new norm for leaders. Major shifts in global economies, disruptive competition, and technology changes come at you continuously and from all directions. Your world is a constant high pressure system. It’s stressful, to say the least.

Stress can set the trigger for shooting into default behaviors, your derailers. When this happens, you’re not your best leadership self, the person you aspire to be. You may be at your worst. After the fact, you regret what you've done or said. Unfortunately, who you are at your worst leadership moments gets tattooed in people’s minds.

The shift to your default takes place in a nano second. And once you step onto the roller coaster of derailment, you’re on for the whole ride. First, comes the trigger. Next, your emotions take charge. Old behavior patterns flare up. Your best intentions and your intentional brain recede into the background. The default pattern is laid out in the pathways of your brain. You’ve taken that path so many times that you're now on auto-pilot.

How to Change Your Default Behaviors

Once you know your triggers, you can intentionally develop a new habit of mind. How? Apply this five step process. I recently used it with David, a coaching client. It works.

David’s Default Behavior:

Overly directive
Drives too hard for his own agenda
Stops listening
Doesn’t take others into consideration and becomes insensitive
According to 360 feedback, “David gets shit done at the expense of relationships”.

David knows and states,

The higher you go up as a leader, the more you rely on others to get stuff done. Success depends on developing and maintaining good relationships.
But knowledge alone didn’t change his behavior.

Here’s what did.

Step 1: Awareness

David read the results of his 360 assessment. He faced his default behavior, and its unintended side affects, in black and white hard copy print. He understood the business consequences. More importantly he took and felt it personally. Despite being told not to take things personally at work, when it comes to changing yourself, it's best that you do.

People were complying but not engaged. They were doing what David said because of his formal position, but not because they believed in him, or wanted to follow him, as a leader. David’s default pattern was the problem. He didn’t like the self he was reading about. He was aware and motivated to change.

Step 2: Calling on a Different Part of You

I asked David to take a 10 minute walk, but not alone. By his side, he imagined two real life friends who know him well. He asked them what strengths they had observed that he needed to access. How and when had they seen him be more considerate of others? What parts of himself could he call on for better leadership? When David returned from his walk, we identified:

The Listener
The Questioner
The Person who Genuinely Cares
He had a felt-sense of each part by his side.

Step 3: Intention

For the next several weeks, David and I had early morning calls every day. Then David set and stated his intentions about the parts of himself that would show up for each engagement. This intention setting step is critical. It creates a commitment to act in a certain way.

Before he entered each meeting, David paused for a reminder of which self-parts were coming into the room with him and which parts were staying outside the door. He walked into the meeting with the right parts front and center of his mind.

Step 4: Outcomes

At the end of each day, David and I reviewed what he observed when he showed up differently. This is the reward that reinforces change.

On Day 1, meeting 1, David received the following feedback.

"You set the stage in a way that people were really comfortable opening up to you."
Step 5: Rinse and Repeat

Keep it up. It takes 9 months of practicing a new habit to change your brain.

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Aug 25 at 2015 5:07 PM

2015-08-25T17:07:00-04:00

Appropriate stress can be beneficial COL Mikel J. Burroughs However too much stress as in data overload can either cause one to become somewhat dysfunctional.
I think anybody who has been in a leadership position in the military has been juggling many balls. Generally stress can help us deal with many different situations and crises nearly simultaneously. Our previous training and experience can help us actually perform a triage system in our mind to help us recognize what needs to be dealt with right away, what can be delayed and what is actually too far gone except possibly for life support.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 25 at 2015 7:30 PM

2015-08-25T19:30:12-04:00

This is one of those easier said than done areas. I like the concept.

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made Aug 26 at 2015 6:18 AM

2015-08-26T06:18:54-04:00

Absolutely sir.
1) Drink the ROTC Kool-Aid
2) 2LT programming
3) 1LT training
4) CPT's career course
5) The field grade lobotomy.

Response by CW3 Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 30 at 2015 11:23 AM

2015-08-30T11:23:33-04:00

As an instructor pilot this article hit very close to home. Especially considering the need to know your defaults. The author outlines some pretty common struggles I experience and my other instructor pilots experience as well. Being overly directive when you’re near the end of your patience rope, getting defensive when people give you feedback, and telling when coaching would be best are all great examples of these defaults. Reflection and being aware of yourself and tendencies when under stress or challenged are vital for instructors and leaders alike. If you are aware and focus your efforts you can overcome these defaults. Great article, thanks for sharing COL Mikel J. Burroughs.

Response by COL Mikel J. Burroughs made Feb 20 at 2016 11:01 AM

2016-02-20T11:01:39-05:00

HERE IS THE LINK TO THE ARTICLE:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/4-brain-changes-better-leadership-anne-perschel?trk=hp-feed-article-title-channel-add

Response by CPO Tim Dickey made Feb 24 at 2016 8:38 PM

2016-02-24T20:38:30-05:00

COL Mikel J. Burroughs, another good, easy read is by Dr. Caroline Leaf, "Who Switched Off My Brain?" http://drleaf.com/store/books/who-switched-off-my-brain-revised-edition-hard-cover/

Who Switched Off My Brain Revised Edition (Hard Cover) | Dr. Caroline Leaf

Dr. Caroline Leaf

Response by Doug Macdonald made Feb 27 at 2016 6:53 PM

2016-02-27T18:53:34-05:00

COL Mikel J. Burroughs, Those are all really good points. One of the things I practice is simplicity. In it's simplest form it is about getting in touch with your inner self. A journey of self-awareness. It is an endless but fulfilling journey.

As I learned who I was and what part my place was in this world, people reacted differently to me. It about finding your passion and purpose. In just an instant, in part of this journey, every individual event in my 58 years of life became connected and revealed the purpose. The journey continues every day.

Great leaders have a firm handle on self-awareness. Because they trust so deeply in their purpose and passion, people trust that the leader has their best interest in mind. Kind of deep but I share this journey every day in hopes to give people another perspective.

Response by SSG Mike Angelo made Feb 27 at 2016 8:56 PM

2016-02-27T20:56:55-05:00

You have to envision the ability to reset. I have had to reset my career and the work life balance several times. For my military career resetting meant training x5. As a veteran resetting meant education, discovering new things, being tolerant of a free and open society, demonstrate sensitivity for all not just the few, don't be afraid to work.