To party or not to party?

To party or not to party? There's more than drinking and dining to management!

There is quite a debate going on in the US about whether President Obama is outgoing enough to be a good leader.The debate is about how his apparent introvert tendencies impact his leadership abilities. This has extended to whether the best leaders are introverts, typically described as reserved, people who tend to do their thinking inside their head. Or extroverts, typically more outgoing and who talk out their thinking. This has been a debate for some years.

From my point of view it is rather a futile one. No one is just introvert or just extrovert; all the research suggests we all have both tendencies and what’s more we can all adapt and adopt the appropriate style when circumstances demand.Maybe the debate should shift to the effectiveness of the leader. Reading the press and talking to leaders themselves many seem to be struggling. Too many are stressed and have difficulties with their team. In short many leaders seem to struggle to adopt a style that is conducive to getting the best from themselves and their teams. They seem to be brain fried; stressed, grumpy, dictatorial and detached.

We have been researching the findings of neuroscience, the science of how the brain works, to understand the implications for leaders.

Our belief is if the leader operates in a way which is consistent with how the brain works, if they are brain-savvy, they will get much better results. For themselves, in how they work and manage the demands made upon them and for their team members, how they engage, develop and lead change.

So what are the characteristics of a brain-savvy leader? How do they act?Some of the characteristics the brain science is telling us are:

They’re the ones who ask questions a lot. Not just about what people are doing, but how they’re feeling, because the brain notices threat much more than the good stuff, the rewards. When the brain is threatened, even at an unconscious level it pretty much shuts down the executive functioning. That’s the part that plans, reasons, is innovative and sets goals. Basically the part you need leaders and employees to be using to solve business issues. So brain-savvy leaders want to know when their people feel threatened so they can flex their leadership to replace feelings of threat with feelings of reward.Brain-savvy leaders are the ones who make important and creative decisions early in the day rather than spending the most productive time for the brain doing email and routine tasks .  They don’t leave important things till the end of the day. That’s because they understand how and when their brain functions best for different tasks. How they can make their day as ‘brain efficient’ as possible.

They’re also the ones who keep calm when others lose it.  By understanding how the brain works they can recognise their emotional reaction, and can step back from them. They understand why they are reacting strongly, stop the reaction and choose to act differently.
This means brain-savvy leaders can decide how to react best to any situation, even if that’s not the way they would naturally.But maybe most important of all is the way these leaders deal with change.

They’re the ones whose teams are best at embracing change. That’s because brain-savvy leaders know that change creates feelings of threat more than anything else. So unlike leaders who tell their team to change, brain-savvy leaders show their team why change is good for them personally. Then help them set personal goals to achieve change. And reward them for doing so.In short, brain-savvy leaders are the ones who lead better. Because, by understanding how the brain reacts, they get the best reaction from themselves and their team.

You can view our fun video on brain-savvy leaders below. Brain-savvy leaders would also be the ones who understand their own tendencies towards extraversion or introversion and when to adjust their styles (or when to party).  It doesn’t matter which they are more often as they know how to manage their impact on their teams.So how do your leaders stack up? If the answer is not that well, don’t worry.

The good news is you can train your leaders to be brain-savvy.  That’s what our MasterMind leadership development is all about. It gives people all the tools and insights to become brain-savvy leaders.  And what’s more, it does it in a brain-savvy way. With leadership development tools, techniques and programmes geared completely towards how people learn best.

Source: http://www.headheartbrain.com/do-leaders-need-to-like-parties/