Neuroscience of Leadership and Change: Embracing the Millennium of the Mind

Leadership and personal development can be most effectively integrated into corporate and entrepreneurial training programs when approached through the gateway of neuroscience and brain research. It is our amazing brain that allows us to engage conscious reasoning, choice, and to imagine possibilities beyond what already exists. It allows us to access the field of infinite genius and creativity. I can say that what is apparent is that this new millennium ushered in a new awareness of the brain and mind.

We have learned more within this new millennium about our brain and nervous system than we have in recorded human history before this time—and all within a 12-year period. I have been able to apply my training in neuroscience as an eye surgeon and business owner now to helping business leaders and their teams better access their “Mind’s Eye” and reach more of their true potential. This allows us to expand the vision for our life and eliminate more effectively our “blind spots.” Most people are not aware of this quiet revolution going on right in our midst.

Decades ago, even as a child, I had an insight that stood out for me that has been prophetic. Even as a child in Bible class, one of my favorite scriptures was from Romans 12:2. It goes like this: “Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

I find it so interesting that science is now substantiating ancient wisdom and proverbs. In order to rise above what is not working well in the world around us, we must renew our mind, which is another way of saying “change our mind” or “retrain our mind.” That verse has stuck with me over the years, and apparently my intuitive insight was indeed prophetic. Renewing my mind has allowed me to transcend much of the negative thinking that I grew up with and which is so ubiquitous in our world at large.

Transcending—ending the trance of negativity that many of us are under—is the most effective path to leadership development and personal growth. Limiting beliefs about our identity or what we can do, be, or have can be changed at the level of our heart and mind—when we know how. Even when we “fake it,” we are not as effective as we would be if we muster up the courage to renew our mind.

It is much easier to learn new, more effective leadership behaviors and develop authentic confidence when we understand how perception determines our actions and outcomes—and how to change old, outdated behaviors and beliefs. We can learn how to optimally operate our brain and mind in a way that leads to less fear of change and greater efficiency and leadership effectiveness. It will require us to open our mind before we can renew it.

This is the only path to sustainable leadership and team effectiveness that can navigate the winds of change and competition with ease and skill. If it takes a few years to shift gears every time innovation creates change, your organization is at risk, regardless of size. Look at Kodak and Sears—two household-name giants. One (Kodak) is bankrupt, and the other may be extinct soon. The company just doesn’t seem to be able to join us in the 21st century—the new millennium of the mind.

Are you proactively engaging in this innovative idea for leadership and team development that we can “retrain our brain,” or are you only giving lip service to this concept of embracing innovative ideas?