The NEW Neuroscience of Leadership

ABOUT

Stress, Resilience and Emotional Regulation

In the workplace, it can feel that we are required to be more and more productive, but often without additional resources. Decisions, often with huge financial implications, or that have the potential to affect the lives of others, have to be made quickly and in pressurised environments. Events beyond our control affect our daily lives and we have to deal with these as best we can. This can be both stressful and require careful control of our emotional responses.

What exactly is stress? And what function does it serve for us? Why would we have evolved to be stressed? And, how come some people seem to be much better at dealing with the stresses of life than others? What can we learn from these people about how to be more resilient? How can we develop a larger emotional repertoire that can provide more flexible behavioural alternatives in emotive situations?

In this workshop, we will address the stress mechanism in the brain and what benefits it has for our performance under pressure. We will consider when stress is problematic, and what tools we have at our disposal to control it so we can work more effectively, increase our resilience and live less stressed lives.

By the end of this workshop, you should:

• Understand the function of stress and how to use this effectively.
• Understand the role of emotion in our lives.
• Understand the benefits of a large emotional repertoire and know how to expand your own repertoire.
• Know the difference between approach and avoid modes of behaviour and have tools available to switch between these modes.
• Understand the nature of resilience and have tools to increase resilience in self and others.
• Have tools to decrease stress and increase resilience in self and others to work/live more effectively.
• Understand the nature of contemplation and its benefits.
• Understand the links between contemplation and techniques including mindfulness and meditation.

The Neuroscience of Confidence

Why is it that some people have the confidence to give presentations to hundreds of people or to sing in front of thousands? Why do others find it hard to talk to even one stranger or to explore unfamiliar places? And why can we sometimes feel confident in one area of our lives but not in others?

Whether you are interested in increasing your own confidence, coaching individuals to better confidence or improving the confidence of a team, having an understanding of the ways in which our brain assesses confidence will be important in developing these skills. This workshop will allow you to increase your trust in your own ability to build the confidence you require in any area of your life and to help others to do the same.

By the end of this workshop, you should:

• Understand how to work with the networks in the brain that we use to determine trust in ourselves and others.
• Become aware of the differences in these networks and the consequences for our own behaviour.
• Learn how confidence is increased in the brain.
• Understand the beliefs that might be detrimental to confidence and learn how to change these.
• Practice tips and tools to improve levels of confidence.

Decision Making and Planning

As we move up the ladder of success in the workplace, or when we become parents, we are required to make decisions and plan for events that affect a number of different people’s lives – sometimes in highly significant ways. We are also responsible for bigger budgets and financial planning. But we don’t always get support for how to get the best from the decision-making systems in our own and other’s brains.

In this workshop, we will present the evolution of decision making, and the different decision-making systems that have resulted from this process. We will consider in what contexts these different decision-making processes work best, and how to choose what kind of system to use.

You will learn how to optimise both individual decision-making and decision making in teams.

By the end of this workshop, you should:

• Understand the evolution of decision making and the brain systems that are in place to make decisions.
• Differentiate between different decision-making processes and understand the strengths and limitations of each.
• Be able to consider which decision-making system to use in particular contexts.
• Have tools to help with decision making in complexity.
• Be able to optimize individual and team decision making and planning.
• Be able to describe the brain systems involved in decision making and planning in a manner that is accessible and useful to non-experts

Patricia has built her own business over the past 15 years bringing neuroscience to organisations worldwide. Her expertise is in both consulting and designing training based on the most recent research from neuroscience and her clients including HSBC, Cartier, Sage, and the British Admiralty. In addition, she is a member of faculty at Henley Business School and has delivered training for other Business Schools both nationally and internationally including Henley Business School, South Africa, Massey Business School, New Zealand, and Oxford Said Business School. She has also authored books, chapters and articles on coaching and leadership.

 Patricia has a reputation for making the complex simple. This is invaluable when helping individuals and teams to learn to use their brains more effectively. She has applied this understanding to many aspects of business including productivity, performance, decision making, stress and resilience, reducing unconscious bias, team building, change management and motivation.

 Patricia gained her undergraduate degree from Glasgow University, her masters from Imperial College and her doctorate from Oxford University. She is also a trained coach (PCIC from Henley Business School). 

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