Part One: My insights from the London Neuroscience Conference 2013

Over the next few days, I'll be sharing with you some of my insights that I think are practical from the neuroscience conference in London. 

The first one I'd like to share is the importance of sleep to consolidate memory and experiences. 

Most of my clients don't seem to get enough sleep. On average they get between 4 to 5 hours. The photo you see below is based on current research as to what the brain really needs. 

The most important to note are the red lines , which represent REM (rapid eye movement). This comes at the end of each sleep cycle which is approximately 90 minutes. Research shows that we Between 4 to 5 sleep cycles.

Part Three: My insights from the London Neuroscience Conference 2013

More insights for the London Neuroscience Conference 2013:

Day two kicked off with a very good session on performance management. The observation was that most PM processes create a threat response. They also in practice have an unclear purpose; articulated as improving performance but the actual outcome is compensation management. 

Also implicitly most processes assume a fixed mindset; people are hired as talented and capable, or not, rather than a growth mindset; people can grow and develop thorough effort and training. A focus on the social elements and the quality of the conversation shifts the experience of PM.

There was excellent input which dispelled the myth that to change performance management from being primarily a threat to a more brain-savvy approach means losing structure and accountability.

Performance Management is clearly an area where we will see a lot more discussion over the coming months. The challenge was thrown out that HR must stop making incremental changes and rethink the purpose of performance management and the results being obtained based on the company purpose and an understanding of how humans actually respond.

Part Two: My insights from the London Neuroscience Conference 2013

A new model was presented that looked at how to accelerate wisdom in leaders. Recognising traditional methods of developing leaders through rotations etc is too slow and often misses what we need from leaders in today’s business as opposed to yesterday’s. The aim was to see what neuroscience can tell us about developing leaders faster.

The model really represents the different processes leaders must employ and the areas of the brain responsible for each. 

The model covers areas such as:

Goal attainment; the importance of pragmatism,

Emotional balance; social and personal regulation

Tolerance; the importance of social connection

Self-understanding; through direct experience

Dealing with ambiguity; fostering insight 

There was a rather good discussion on the panel about how these can be practically fostered in work including examples like Standard Chartered Bank taking managers to China to really get a sense of the country before creating their strategy for the region. 

Most people felt the model wasn’t really about wisdom, and there was lots of debate about what that meant anyway, but more about accelerating quality leadership. 

The panel also mentioned that in order to accelerate the development of leaders the neuroscience can point to some interesting methods including mindfulness which has been shown to have a beneficial impact across most of the areas in the model. 

However, the panel also observed it is a challenge to get leaders to practice mindfulness so whilst you are building up to persuading your leaders to be more mindful.

I believe learning about how the brain works can provide some similar benefits as people begin to be more aware of their own responses. Certainly my work with leaders would bear this out. 

Alleviating stress at work

 
We can all benefit from some simple steps to avoid unnecessary stress and maximize our  mental energy during the workday here a few tips.

 Begin with a quiet brisk walk which is excellent for thinking. The location should be familiar to avoid the destruction of new outside stimuli.  

Don't carry a cell phone. Let the mind wander, always try for the big picture, of the details. This can be the best and most important part of the day

Chat with someone over breakfast or coffee about the day ahead. After the free-floating thoughts of the walk, the discipline that comes from talking helps organize the line.

Do not begin the day with meetings. Take time to organize. Do a quick review of emails, deleting the less important ones and leaving the meaningful one for later. Set specific times  to review messages during the day-do not fall victim to constant digital interruption. 

Have times when the doors open for anyone to come in unannounced, but also have times when the door is closed for private Thoughts.

Despite the project instantly respond to business issues try to postpone even the most urgent matters to allow for quite reflection. Even a couple of hours can make a difference.

Use the lunch break to disconnect from the mornings problems. Discuss issues totally unrelated to company matters. 

In mid afternoon, stop to read an article related to professional industry but not specific to your company. This typically starts a new train of thought connect eventually with  something you were working on. 

At the end of the day, spend time with family and friends, preferably not talking about work. Become immersed in something different and engaging in music or reading. The fresh perspective helps reset the brain for tomorrow's challenges. Meanwhile, all the connections that you have major they are working in the unconscious.

Throughout the day, try to remember this statement: "if you do one thing at a time, there aren't enough hours in the day to deal with every problem; but if we try to do more than one thing at a time, there are not enough days in a year to get anything done." By not becoming a slave to reactivity and by dealing manage without rushing we avoid excess stress.