Dr. David Rock, consultant and author, coined the term NeuroLeadership in 2006. From the NeuroLeadership Institute website:

“NeuroLeadership is an emerging field of study focused on bringing neuroscientific knowledge into the areas of leadership development, management training, change management, education, consulting and coaching.”

“The NeuroLeadership movement is intended to help individuals and organisations of all types fulfill their potential through better understanding how the human brain functions at individual, team and systemic levels.”

Since 2007, Dr. Rock hosts the annual NeuroLeadership Summit and has developed the post-graduate Certificate in the Foundations of NeuroLeadership. He has written several books including  Coaching with the Brain in Mind, with Linda Page, and Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long. Learn about the format and some concepts from the first few chapters of Your Brain at Work in my podcast. I invite you to join me for interesting discussions as a member of the open LinkedIn group, NeuroLeadership.

You can also explore the connection between brain science and leadership with Your Brain and Business: The Neuroscience of Great Leaders by psychiatrist, brain-imaging researcher, and executive coach, Dr. Srinivasan S. Pillay.

There is even a “Dummies” book on this topic. Check out The Leadership Brain for Dummies by international educational neuroscience consultant and adjunct professor, Marilee Sprenger.

If you are passionate about your own leadership development and that of your clients, you owe it to yourself, and those you lead, to explore the powerful applications of brain science to leadership.

I invite you to share your experiences with neuroscience and leadership, and to share your recommended resources in this arena.

May you choose to create an amazing day as you continue to make a positive difference in the lives you touch!

Melanie Hoffner

Alvaro Fernandez, with www.SharpBrains.com, has identified four pillars of brain health. Let’s start with the pillar of Physical Exercise, which has a number of positive benefits for your brain including increasing oxygen flow which increases mental sharpness, increasing BDNF which supports the growth of brain cells, increasing the creation of blood vessels in the brain and … click here to learn more from Dr. John Medina, author of Brain Rules: 12 Rules for Surviving and Thriving at Work School and Home.

Oh, and thirty minutes of aerobic exercise just twice a week reduces your risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia by 50%!

I hope you can enjoy a walk today.

The other day I had stopped at a stop sign as I was leaving a store parking lot.  I wanted something from the back seat and since no one was behind me, I shifted my minivan into park, got out and opened the sliding back door. To my surprise, a binder and two file folders fell to the ground and the loose papers began to scatter with the wind.

“No, no, no!” was all I could say as I frantically grabbed the  binder and papers that were still at my feet, threw them into the back seat, turned off the ignition, put on my hazard lights, and began to pick up the dozens of pages lying in the next lane.  Two vehicles had now pulled up behind me and I waved them around me, as I bent down to pick up more pages. When I next looked up, the people in those vehicles were outside picking up papers! A woman and a teenage boy each handed me a stack of papers. “I don’t think they are in order,” she joked and smiled.

“That’s okay. If I have them, I can reorganize them. Thank you so much. Thank you both!” As I turned to go, she added, “I think he got the furthest ones,” pointing to a man across the open area of the lot. He was jogging toward us with a handful of papers.

“I think I got them all,” he said as he handed them to me with a smile.

“Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you for your help.” I smiled and kept repeating, “Thank you.”

We all got into our vehicles smiling. These acts of kindness gave all of us, as well as anyone who saw them, a brain boost of serotonin, the chemical that creates a feeling of satisfaction, well-being, or “Ahhhh.”

Not only did I have the papers, I also had a story of good news to share to help us remember that there is so much good happening around us every day. To read more good news, I recommend www.Gimundo.com I invite you to create good news with a random act of kindness today and enjoy your serotonin boost as well as the knowledge that you made a difference!

What kind of mental exercise are you including in your life, and how do you know if it is really effective mental exercise? Doing the same kind of mental problem-solving every day, like crossword puzzles, is less stimulating to the brain than learning something new.

Fernandez notes, “‘Use it or lose it’ may be mis­lead­ing if we think that ‘It’ is just one thing. The brain is com­posed of many dif­fer­ent areas that focus on dif­fer­ent things. Doing a cross­word puz­zle only acti­vates a small part of the brain. The 3 key prin­ci­ples for good brain exer­cises are: nov­elty, vari­ety and con­stant chal­lenge. Not that dif­fer­ent from cross-training our bodies.”

Go to sharpbrains.com to read more of Fernandez’s “Brain Exercise and Brain Health FAQ’s” and explore the Teasers tab to enjoy some fun mental exercise. You could also take a class to learn ballroom dancing or origami. Whatever you choose, have fun with mental exercise as another brain booster!

Your choices about what to eat or drink, what to think, whether or not to exercise, how much sleep you’ll get, and more all have a powerful impact on your brain’s health and performance. Many of us make “brain-busting” choices because we never learned how these choices can enhance or impair our brain.

Starting today, you can commit to learn about what your brain needs to be at its best and then make more conscious “brain-boosting” choices. I love to help people have their best brains at work, school and home and I commit to sharing information, websites, seminars and more so you can make more “brain-boosting” choices. A good place to start for a wealth of high- quality information is Dr. Daniel Amen’s site.

What do you want to learn or understand about your brain? Share a comment…

May you choose to create a great day as you continue to make a positive difference in the lives you touch!