Dr Tara Swart is a leader in the field of innovation and understanding how our brains work and how to train the brain and adapt habits to maxamise our potential at home and at work…
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In today’s extremely frenetic work environment, some reports say that we check our phones up to 85 times or more a day. This means our brains have to process a vast amount of information on an hourly basis. How can we ensure that we look after our brain health in this demanding context? People should look after their brain’s health to enhance their performance. Our brains aren’t programmed to be ”switched on” all the time, so a digital detox can be a good way of giving your brain a rest and reducing stress levels. A digital detox can boost creativity and ensure quality time with family and friends.
A digital detox helps…
IMPROVE SLEEP AND REST FOR THE BRAIN
Using a phone or device in bed or just before sleep affects the quality of sleep.
Melatonin – the hormone that helps regulate sleep – is released by the pineal gland into the bloodstream. The blue light that phone and laptop screens emit confuses the gland because darkness is what triggers it to start working.
Long-term lack of sleep also increases chances of developing diseases such as Alzheimer’s, because our brain’s glymphatic system removes toxins from the brain while we sleep.
SOCIAL BONDING/SPENDING TIME WITH FAMILY
Oxytocin, the “bonding hormone” – released into the blood via the pituitary gland during times of trust and bonding – is likely to be more in abundance when people can communicate and interact freely over a shared experience and through physical contact. Putting down devices and spending time interacting with family can help to increase levels of oxytocin, which improves communication and trust.
COMBATING STRESS
We generally feel under constant pressure to respond to e-mails and messages immediately. Being aware of e-mails coming into your inbox can cause stress and an increase in levels of the stress hormone, cortisol. Some studies have even suggested that knowledge of unread e-mails in your inbox can reduce your effective IQ. Our brains aren’t good at multitasking, so having to constantly overlap work and leisure by, for example, responding to e-mails at the weekend, can tire us out mentally. It’s important that we use our weekends and holidays to give our brains time and space to recharge and relax.
A digital detox at the weekend can be the first step towards achieving this.
Dr Tara Swart, is a renowned neuroscientist, leadership coach and medical doctor.
This article was originally published in the Times.
If you took the brain of a good leader versus a poor leader out their heads and put them on a table, would there be a difference?
This is the question neuroscientist Dr Tara Swart, author of Neuroscience for Leadership, answers in her research. A brain operating in a compromised state due to poor nutrition, sleep deprivation and extended exposure to stress, weakens a leader’s capacity to lead. Leaders attempting to steer their teams through complexity while operating with a brain that didn’t get enough sleep are doing so with less than their full IQ.
Swart’s work at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) marrying neuroscience and increased leadership capacity endeavours to challenge and offer leaders practical ways to get more out of their brains. Advances in the tools that study the brain enable the scientific community to measure cognitive function and offer insights into how to get the most out of our brains. While science still has a long way to go to fully unpack the full extent of the brain’s potential, we have enough evidence to prove many in leadership positions are not operating near their full potential. The consequences of a leader trying to lead without understanding the principles of optimal brain power are many.
Have you walked into a meeting and your boss snapped at the team without being provoked? Maybe you’re a leader and your tolerance levels for employee engagement have dropped below acceptable levels and you aren’t sure why? Ever made decisions that in retrospect could have been avoided if your mind were sharper when making the decision?
In Neuroscience for Leadership, Swart explores how a stressed-out leader can impact stress levels of colleagues through chemical transfer without saying a word – just by being in their presence.
We live in an era where the brain is taxed at unprecedented levels. From the increased flood of stimuli via the combination of social media and the 24-hour news cycle, information overload is a very real issue for those trying to lead with a clear head. The tools and techniques Swart speaks of in her book to empower the brain with more structural capacity or to increase what’s termed neuroplasticity (the ability for the brain to make more connections) are at our disposal.
As the world continues to right the wrongs of the past and more women are integrated at leadership levels, neuroscience tackles the issue of understanding the leadership abilities of male versus female brains. Swart and other neuroscientists are in agreement that the gender bias against women in leadership is not a function of women’s ability to lead but a patriarchal system that were designed to keep women from leading. Now that science has proven women have equal capacity to lead, are there any differences in their instinctual leadership styles?
Female leadership traits: Group problem-solver. Participative. Vocally encouraging. Help others express emotion. Inductive in problem solving.
Male traits: Personally problem solver. Hierarchical. Encourages less feeling and more action. Deductive in problem-solving.
What if all our leaders operated with a clear understanding of how to get the most out of their brains? Anyone who considers themselves a leader should open up to the advances of neuroscience to gain a firmer grasp on the power and potential of their brain.
Swart will be in Johannesburg on May 25, hosted by the Business Results Group. Find out more at www.brg.co.za
Webster is the author of brand leadership books and a columnist who consults and speaks on the science of human and brand behaviour. He studied at the Image Institute, Brookstone College, US and has a Certificate in Neuroscience for Leadership from MIT.
Dr Tara Swart is a renowned neuroscientist, leadership coach, medical doctor and award-winning author.
This article originally featured in Sunday Independent 14 May 2017.
For centuries, the fusion of poor science, religion and backward cultural beliefs propped up patriarchy and dealt a blow to women’s leadership aspirations the world over. The enlightenment era (17th-19th century) helped usher in healthier dialogue around women’s rights outside the home.
The world is beginning to awaken to the power of women leaders. However, it’s critical to acknowledge the slow pace of change. Lohan Brizendine, author of The Female Brain put her finger on the pulse when she wrote, “For much of the twentieth century, most scientists assumed that women were essentially small men, neurologically and in every other sense except for their reproductive functions.”
I sought the insights of neuroscientist Dr Tara Swart, author of Neuroscience for Leadership. After a view conversations, she invited me to her Neuroscience for Leadership class at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in Boston to hear the latest ideas coming out of the scientific and leadership community about how men and women lead differently.
The three-day program consisted of mind-centering yoga classes as well as dietary offerings designed to ensure maximum brain participation. But the star of the educational show is by far Swart, an Oxford-educated medical doctor who decided to invest her energy in ensuring leaders achieve their brain power.
About half-way through the course, while I learned a lot about why it’s not good to have coffee after lunch and the importance of uninterrupted sleep, my purpose for being there was clear – to understand how the brain of women and men are different and how this impacts their leadership potential.
Swart explained while structurally the minor size difference between men’s and women’s brains are very little (on average, men’s brains are 10% larger), it does not translate to additional capacity to lead. Anyone paying attention to world affairs would know this but it was good to hear it at MIT. Studies show the majority of male and female brains show masculine and feminine features that varied. This means that if every person you met took out their brain and put it on the table, you would not be able to go, ‘oh that’s a man’s or woman’s brain’. Most of us share traits from both. Research shows around 98% does not show a clear gender profile at all.
Things became very interesting when Swart began to note that our circuitry (or what’s commonly known as the connectome) has different wiring in key areas. These different proverbial road maps help explain why men and women lead differently. This does not mean men or women are better, it simply suggests we should highlight the strengths of each and be aware of what we may need to change. For example, women have more connections going from left to right across the two halves of the brain. The left brain is responsible for logical thinking and the right, intuition, which could offer women an advantage when analyzing several sources and and coming to a healthy conclusion. Men on the other hand have more connections from the back to the front. These connection patterns help heighten their perception, offering more motor and spatial skills and these skills assist in hand-eye coordination activities such as catching a ball.
These patterns are not hard rules that can’t be changed and the environment plays an important role when it comes to the brain’s wiring. Swart highlights the differences between women’s and men’s brain output is impacted by a complex eco-system of influences such as diet, friends, parenting as well as whether or not your boss emits too many stress hormones. One of the aspects of our brains that make us remarkable is the ability to make patterns, signals and connections stronger by committing to practices. So, overriding a negative pattern is completely possible through what Swart calls neuroplasticity, which is the gateway to new behaviours – and the good news: this potential occurs late into your retirement years.
Here are some common generic differences: Female leadership traits make women group problem solvers, participative, vocally encouraging, help others express emotion, and inductive in solving problems. Male leadership traits are: Personally problem solve, hierarchical, encourages less feeling and more action, downplays the role of emotions and deductive in problem solving.
The course was attended by students from around the world. The main takeaway from Swart was men and women both have the potential to lead at the highest level and can rewire their brain when taking conscious ownership. Somewhere between our conditioned programming and our need to participate in the leadership environment is the ability to choose.
Timothy Maurice Webster is an author in brain and brand science.
Dr Tara Swart is a renowned neuroscientist, leadership coach, medical doctor and award-winning author.
This article originally featured in Forbes Women Africa, April/May 2017, page 95.
What makes you a leader? Is it your title, your ability to go through situations unscathed or leading by popular demand? Maybe it is the numerous certificates on your wall or collecting subordinate appreciation. Not quite what you had in mind? Dive into the leadership lessons from Bill Campbell, legendary mentor and executive coach to many of business luminaries.
1. Don’t assume your employees automatically respect you because you’re the boss
Campbell did not believe in positional authority “Your title makes you a manager. Your people will decide if you’re a leader, and it’s up to you to live up to that” Campbell told managers a strong company culture was a better way to motivate employees. They should “create the environment where they can do the best work of their lives.”
2. Lean into hard problems
Campbell believed in “being brave”, particularly during tough times. You need to lean into hard problems because they don’t go away.
3. Do what’s right, even if it’s not in fashion
Bill Campbell was focused on diversity, especially gender diversity, before it was cool. Campbell sparked the idea to launch a women’s entrepreneurship conference series and funded the first one himself.
4. Lead people to opportunity
Campbell did not place much value on degrees or even IQs—he cared about courage and getting things done. “Bill loved people that had dirt under their fingernails, get-shit-done kind of people,” says Brad Smith, Chairman and CEO of Intuit. “That validated a lot of people. He gave people a shot.”
5. It’s not about you, it’s about the team
Campbell didn’t want attention for his work. Though he worked with a lot of celebrity CEOs, he didn’t like ego. “He believed in team. He lived the kind of values he taught,” said John Doerr, a partner at Kleiner Perkins. “I don’t think you can be an effective coach and be on stage,” he added. “You gotta call the plays from the side.”
Most of us get paid to use our brains, yet there is often a lack of understanding about how our brain works and how we can use it to its full potential. Knowing simple facts about how your brain functions can help you train your mind and improve how you work, both personally and as part a team. It is often presumed that good leadership is inherent, a quality which we are born with. Neuroscience supports the idea that leaders can be born and are then made by developing favourable brain pathways. There has been a lot of work done in the application of neuroscience to business, and I cover the subject in depth in my book Neuroscience for Leadership. The following are a few small science-backed tips that may help you begin to realise your potential for great leadership.
The ability to adapt is crucial to effective longevity in business.
With an ever-changing business environment, as well as ongoing stress and pressure, leaders must be constantly open to re-examining and changing their habits. Encouraging our brain’s neuroplasticity (the ability of the brain to adapt by creating new neural pathways) will teach our brains new behaviours, whilst weakening the old habits we no longer need.
As a leader, it is vital to lead by example – if you are stressed this will affect your whole team.
Cortisol, the “stress” hormone, is contagious so reducing your cortisol levels is crucial to calm not only yourself, but those around you. In the long term, this can be done through practicing mindfulness meditation, which will thicken the folds in the pre-frontal cortex, the part of the brain associated with higher executive functions, such as flexible thinking, impulse control and reasonable decision-making. If you aware of your stress rising, for a quick fix, deep abdominal breathing can reduce cortisol production and increase oxygen flow to the brain.
In contrast oxytocin, the bonding hormone, will help you develop trust and good communication with others. These qualities are crucial to leading an effective team, which will thrive long-term, as well as building new business connections. Developing a trusting work environment will help encourage learning, bonding and creativity. Oxytocin can be released through simple, physical interactions, such as good eye contact and handshaking as well as through successful communication. Productive meetings, a motivational speech or team bonding sessions will all help boost oxytocin between colleagues.
Good leadership is often all about confidence – whether it be your own or instilling confidence in others.
Higher levels of testosterone are linked to an increase in confidence. Testosterone also has a positive effect on risk taking and competitiveness, important when engaging with potential business contacts and staying one step ahead of your competitors. The connection between the mind and the body means that simply standing tall and acting with assurance can boost your testosterone levels and reduce your cortisol levels (stress). In the same way hunching and making yourself small will have the opposite effect. Having positive and open body language will not only come across well, but will make you feel more confident.
Even being able to examine your current habits and implementing small changes like these will help you harness your brain’s full potential for leadership and gain a competitive edge in the work environment.
Dr Tara Swart is a neuroscientist, leadership coach, award-winning author and a medical doctor. She works with leaders all over the world to help them achieve mental resilience and peak brain performance, improving their ability to manage stress, regulate emotions and retain information.
Business Results Group is delighted to once again host Dr Swart who is visiting South Africa to present on Neuroscience for Leadership in Johannesburg on the 25th May 2017. For more information, click HERE
