Business leaders are in charge – of people, of budgets, of production lines. Most leaders also believe that they are in charge of their greatest resource – their own brain. But how true is that? The more we understand about how the brain works, the clearer it becomes that often our brain kicks in before we do. For example, our brain can con us into being sure that we’re right – even when we’re wrong. The more expert we become, the less we “think.” And without consulting us, our brain decides whom to trust.

The good news is that leaders can use what researchers have learned about the brain to manage their own brains more effectively. That’s the first ‘brain advantage.’ Just as important, leaders can use that knowledge to manage other people more effectively. That’s the second ‘brain advantage.’

The Brain Advantage: Become A More Effective Leader Using The Latest Brain Research (Prometheus Books, $19) combines the latest brain research with insights from psychological studies of how people think. It uses this information to show business leaders how to become even more effective decision-makers, communicators, and change-agents.

“Competitive advantage goes to those who apply cutting-edge science to real-world problems,” says Tad Waddington, Ph.D., author of the multi-award-winning Lasting Contribution. “The Brain Advantage gives you both the latest research in cognitive science and the roadmap for how to put it to good use.”

Each chapter reports in concise, digestible terms the science behind how the brain works, and then demonstrates how this research is relevant to business leadership today. Stories then illustrate what leaders might do differently if they were truly to “lead with the brain in mind.”

“The Brain Advantage pulls together current science and contemporary thinking about brain function and then in a very practical way applies it to critical leadership skills and challenges faced by business leaders today,” says Michael C. Riordan, President and CEO, Greenville Hospital System, Greenville, SC. “It covers territory that is familiar to most leaders but with an approach that offers new insights and, at times, challenges old ways of thinking.”

About the Authors:

Madeleine L. Van Hecke, PhD (Elmhurst, IL), is a licensed clinical psychologist; a former Professor of Psychology at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois; and a lecturer and workshop leader for Open Arms Seminars. She is the author of Blind Spots: Why Smart People Do Dumb Things.

Brad Kolar (Naperville, IL) is the president of Kolar Associates, a management and leadership consulting company. He was formerly the chief learning officer at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Lisa P. Callahan (Bartlett, IL) is the global lead for learning and knowledge management for the outsourcing practice at Accenture. Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services, and outsourcing company.

Ken A. Paller, PhD (Evanston, IL), works as a cognitive neuroscientist at Northwestern University. He is also a Fellow of the Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease Center, a Professor of Psychology, and Director of the Cognitive Neuroscience Program at the university.

Source: Jill Maxick
Prometheus Books