Helping You Achieve Greater Influence, Higher Engagement & Increased Results

Are You a Supporter or a Challenger?

If you are a people manager and would like to increase your results
or you are an HR manager and would like to increase the impact of the leaders in your organisation please call 01189832017 for a free no obligation chat.

This what happens when you get the balance between challenge and support wrong!

I’m sure you recognise that unless relaxing on a beach on holiday, having no pressure or challenge soon leads to a feeling of boredom. If this happens at work we become ineffective, The converse to this, too much pressure or challenge and we start to shut down and also become ineffective.

Somewhere in the middle there is a ‘sweet spot’, the point at which we reach peak performance. That sweet spot is  different for each of us.

Hungarian Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi coined the phrase ‘Flow’, being in a ‘Flow State’ or sometimes referred to as ‘in the Zone’. When we are at peak performance or flow, time seems to fly by unnoticed.

This state is most likely to occur when we experience the right balance of challenge and support for us personally and it’s all down to a couple of key brain chemicals, dopamine and norepinephrine, (also known as noradrenaline).

Many leaders may be unwittingly getting the balance wrong because they don’t know their people well enough, either burning them out or under challenging them. Everybody is different, many people will not say if the balance is wrong unless you ask them. Just look at the statistics about workplace stress, much of this is caused by providing too much challenge and not enough support. This means their levels of another brain chemical, Cortisol is too high creating stress. Or  have you ever had a good performer who’s performance starts to tail off, this could be because they are not challenged enough.

Neuroscientists have discovered that we all have a part of our brain that lights up or is activated, (viewed live via brain scanner,fMRI), when we feel ‘threatened”  by a situation, I am not referring to physical threat where the stronger fight/flight mechanism kicks in, this ‘threat’ is very subtle and is mostly at an unconscious level. For example when we are being over challenged. The result is we are likely to feel less positive towards this person and less likely to work hard or put in extra effort for them.
Conversely, there is also a part of our brain that lights up or is activated, when we feel ‘rewarded’ by a situation or person, for example when the balance of challenge ans support is just right for us. This again is very subtle and is mostly at an unconscious level. The result is we are likely to feel more positive towards this person and more likely to be proactive or put in extra effort.

Regularly triggering the ‘threat’ circuits or your people will make them less likely to do more than required, ie compliance. They will move away from you on the Human Connection Scale™.

Helping You Achieve Greater Influence, Higher Engagement & Increased Results

You Are A Master Moodcaster!

If you are a people manager and would like to increase your results
or you are an HR manager and would like to increase the impact of the leaders in your organisation please call 01189832017 for a free no obligation chat.

This comes from an old English saying:
“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”, (obviously it is not gender specific), but as it turns out there may be something in that old saying.

Neuroscience reveals we are very social creatures, we actually have areas of our brain dedicated to social interaction, we need it to thrive and survive. Starving the brain of social interaction for extended periods means we may feel isolated and less motivated. Our brains have evolved larger than other mammals and we now believe this is to enable us to keep track of many social relationships between us and those between others. We became a dominate species by forming relationships, collaborating and creating more than any single person or mammal could create on their own.

Our brains are wired to make us feel good when we work with and help others and when others show respect and like us. Powerful feelgood chemicals like oxytocin ensure we feel rewarded for helping others.
In order to build relationships, our brains to get to ‘know’ others. We have to spend time and interact with them in more than just ‘task’ related situations.

I have often seen leaders deliberately suppress social interaction in their office or work area from an assumption that chatting and socialising equates to slacking or skiving. Surprisingly, it turns out that suppressing social interaction between your workforce is likely to reduce performance overall, not increase it. (Obviously if people socialised all day and did no work, that would be a bad thing).

Neuroscientists have discovered that we all have a part of our brain that lights up or is activated, (viewed live via brain scanner,fMRI), when we feel ‘threatened”  by a situation, I am not referring to physical threat where the stronger fight/flight mechanism kicks in, this ‘threat’ is very subtle and is mostly at an unconscious level. The result is we are likely to feel less positive towards this person and less likely to work hard or put in extra effort for them.

Conversely, there is also a part of our brain that lights up or is activated, when we feel ‘rewarded’ by a situation or person, for example being fair and honest. This again is very subtle and is mostly at an unconscious level. The result is we are likely to feel more positive towards this person and more likely to be proactive or put in extra effort.

Regularly triggering the ‘threat’ circuits or your people will make them less likely to do more than required, ie compliance. They will move away from you on the Human Connection Scale™.

Helping You Achieve Greater Influence, Higher Engagement & Increased Results

Try Asking How High Can You Jump!

If you are a people manager and would like to increase your results
or you are an HR manager and would like to increase the impact of the leaders in your organisation please call 01189832017 for a free no obligation chat.

One of a leader’s key responsibilities is to set the ground rules for behaviour, performance and conduct. But once again the ego can spoil the party by raising its ugly head and convincing you that due to your status, you can break the rules, or in some cases, the rules only apply to those below you!

Admittedly, the organisation may reinforce this thinking by providing perks like parking spaces or more flexible working etc. This can lead to you doing a dance called the “do as I say, not as I do” routine or the “Two Rule Tango”

For example, you may send out a note reminding everyone how important it is to turn up at meetings on time but then arrive late yourself with a ‘legitimate’ reason of course!

This kind of behaviour will have a serious impact on the brains of your direct reports.

As humans we crave equality and fairness, it’s almost as if we have an ‘unfairness’ sensor which sends an unfairness alert when triggered, threat circuitry fires up. (This can be so strong that in wider life people lay down their lives in the cause of justice and equality).

Back in the workplace this may not result in any outward challenge but your direct reports will have moved further away from you on the Human Connection Scale™.

So what?

well if you are the kind of leader who wants to get the most from their team and have people put in extra discretionary effort then it matters since this kind of behaviour or even the perception that you have two rules will decrease the effort  they put in for you and the business.

Neuroscientists have discovered that we all have a part of our brain that lights up or is activated, (viewed live via brain scanner,fMRI), when we feel ‘threatened”  by a situation, I am not referring to physical threat where the stronger fight/flight mechanism kicks in, this ‘threat’ is very subtle and is mostly at an unconscious level. The result is we are likely to feel less positive towards this person and less likely to work hard or put in extra effort for them.

Conversely, there is also a part of our brain that lights up or is activated, when we feel ‘rewarded’ by a situation or person, for example being fair and honest. This again is very subtle and is mostly at an unconscious level. The result is we are likely to feel more positive towards this person and more likely to be proactive or put in extra effort.

Regularly triggering the ‘threat’ circuits or your people will make them less likely to do more than required, ie compliance. They will move away from you on the Human Connection Scale™.

I can’t be wrong, I’m the boss!
This is another common mistake leaders make, operating from the assumption that admitting you made a mistake to those below you will somehow damage your reputation as a leader, but in the majority of cases it’s simply not true.
In fact quite the opposite is true, it’s more likely to increase your reputation.

The thing is, people instinctively know that humans make mistakes, (“to err is human”), people are also pretty good at working out when others have err’d. The leader who tries to cover up his/her mistakes will be viewed with distain from those below.

Why?, well turns out us humans are biologically programmed to relate to other humans, we are a social species. If the other human you are trying to relate to does not display a core value like honesty then that relatedness will be reduced. That will result in a reduced level of trust and the ‘threat’ circuits will fire, (see below),  resulting in the person moving away from the leader on the Human Connection Scale™.

The need for us to build a strong social connection has been discovered to be much greater than first thought. It is how we developed to be so successful, by building trusting relationships and cooperating together for millions of years, it is now so strong it drives us unconsciously in nearly all our interactions with other humans.
The leader that ignores this does so at their peril!

Neuroscientists have discovered that we all have a part of our brain that lights up or is activated, (viewed live via brain scanner,fMRI), when we feel ‘threatened”  by a situation, I am not referring to physical threat where the stronger fight/flight mechanism kicks in, this ‘threat’ is very subtle and is mostly at an unconscious level. The result is we are likely to feel less positive towards this person and less likely to work hard or put in extra effort for them.

Conversely, there is also a part of our brain that lights up or is activated, when we feel ‘rewarded’ by a situation or person, for example being honest and showing they are also human and can occasionally make mistakes. This again is very subtle and is mostly at an unconscious level. The result is we are likely to feel more positive towards this person and more likely to be proactive or put in extra effort.

Regularly only triggering the ‘threat’ circuits or your people will make them less likely to do more than required, ie compliance. They will move away from you on the Human Connection Scale™.

Helping You Achieve Greater Influence, Higher Engagement & Increased Results

Hold yourself to account to do what you expect of others!

If you are a people manager and would like to increase your results
or you are an HR manager and would like to increase the impact of the leaders in your organisation please call 01189832017 for a free no obligation chat.

There is no doubt about it, the ego is powerful, and like it or not, we all have one, but If not kept in check it can run riot with our behaviour, and it feeds on status.

So what do I mean by status in this context?

Status is how we rank ourselves against those around us, the pecking order if you like. It is something we all do, sometimes we are aware of it and other times it happens at an unconscious level, that’s when it can trip us up.

Take for example when you achieve a promotion to a supervisory or management role, your status has been lifted by the organisation in terms of the hierarchical structure. It is then the ego will kick in.
It will start to try and modify your behaviour when around those in a lower status to ensure they know you are at a higher level.

If not kept in check you may even find yourself attempting to lower the status of others, often in subtle ways.
For example, now you are “in charge”, it’s your job to ensure that everyone is doing good work, “right”, you may find yourself regularly pointing out to your people what they are doing wrong or not quite right. Now this comes from a good place within us, it’s usually driven by a positive intent because we want to help them improve, but every time you do that you will be lowering their feeling of status.

We all have a built in need for high self esteem, to feel good about ourselves, it’s a basic human need and can be considered as our internal status. If you consistently only find fault in what they are doing you will lower their status. When this happens the ‘threat’ circuits in their brain will be triggered.

Neuroscientists have discovered that we all have a part of our brain that lights up or is activated, (viewed live via brain scanner), when we feel ‘threatened” by a situation, I am not referring to physical threat where the stronger fight/flight mechanism kicks in, this ‘threat’ is very subtle and is mostly at an unconscious level. The result is we are likely to feel less positive towards this person and less likely to work hard or put in extra effort.

Conversely, there is also a part of our brain that lights up or is activated, when we feel ‘rewarded’ by a situation or person, for example increasing their status. This again is very subtle and is mostly at an unconscious level. The result is we are likely to feel more positive towards this person and more likely to be proactive or put in extra effort.

Regularly only triggering the ‘threat’ circuits or your people will make them less likely to do more than required, i.e. compliance. They will move away from you on the Human Connection Scale™.

So are you a status junkie? If so, what will you do about it?

Helping You Achieve Greater Influence, Higher Engagement & Increased Results

To err is human, admit your mistakes, it will increase your impact!

If you are a people manager and would like to increase your results
or you are an HR manager and would like to increase the impact of the leaders in your organisation please call 01189832017 for a free no obligation chat.