From Neurobiology to Storytelling: Combining the art and science of leadership development.
Welcome to the second instalment of our trilogy of blogs exploring how our new programme THRIVE: Passion, Purpose, Performance is leading the charge in a new vision for executive education.
In this series of blogs, Programme Director Chris Coghlan and Programme Leader Dr Jutta Tobias Mortlock talked to us about how their new programme THRIVE is offering a very different experience of leader development to traditional executive education.
Before we dive into this instalment, let’s briefly meet Chris and Jutta.
Chris My background is within the health, fitness and sports science arena, and my passion is creating learning experiences for individuals that are progressive, that put people on their learning edge - right on the edge of where they are comfortable.
Jutta Before becoming an academic I was a business analyst, but I’m now a Social Psychologist and my expertise is in behaviour analysis. I specialise in understanding what gets people to change their behaviours, so I bring the science into THRIVE - science is my superpower!
PART 2
Q: What elements of THRIVE will help leaders adapt and navigate the new world?
Neuroscience and psychology
Jutta: On THRIVE we integrate not only applied and positive psychology, but also neuroscience. We know that our social neuro-biology responds to things which are happening in our pre-cognitive mind. What I mean by “pre-cognitive” is what’s going on in the mind just outside of the conscious level of awareness, so the automated functions such as breathing, heartbeat, the gut-brain axis, so anything which affects my state of being that is below my level of consciousness.
We want to tap into our neurobiology to help us thrive, helping us be well and do well. We're now realising that there's so much more that we can hack into, or work with or be gently guided by on this pre-cognitive level.
There’s also exciting research and new ways of interpreting the interpersonal energy in the space between people. There’s an energy between how we are and how interact with each other that we can't really measure. On an elemental level we could say that’s just neurons, and that might be a simple explanation, but science is now looking at that energy and how we make sense of it in a more direct way.
Chris: I think we’re entering an era where the concept of quantum forces, so the idea that all matter is completely interconnected, is going to explode. Understanding how those forces impact us is a new field of exploration which is really exciting. I believe quantum biology is the next big step in understanding our energy, how we manage that energy and how we exchange energy.
Jutta: We accept quantum physics; we accept that physics at the particle level is not following the predictable patterns of what you can see. So humans, and their biology, and their social neurobiology, is following interconnected rules. One way of looking at it is as the physical manifestation of karma – so it’s not an immediate response, but it’s a recognition that we are all connected in ways we don’t fully understand. There are dependencies, not necessarily cause and effect, but we depend on each other more than we realise.
The THRIVE Trinity: Physiology, psychology and … SURPRISE!
Chris: My fundamental belief is that the mind and body are as one, and if you are not looking after the health of the mind and the body then how can you expect anything to be optimal? It's the elements of movement, of nutrition, of stress, management, of sleep, and your relationships that are absolutely the foundations to your physical and mental health.
The field of metabolic psychiatry is examining metabolic syndrome - so conditions which are influenced by inflammation including cancers, diabetes, heart disease, etc – through the lens of the brain. So the concept is that you can treat mental health issues with lifestyle interventions because those metabolic dysfunctions influence the health of the brain.
So the relevance of this is that you can’t expect to perform at your peak level without the foundations of good physical health. And we know that everyone understands what they need to do to be healthier and we can reassure you we won’t be trotting out that same tired advice. Instead THRIVE has been designed to be deeply reflective; it's asking people to really look at their own values, challenge them on how their behaviours reflect those values, but then add in the element of surprise in order to actually make changes to their behaviours.
I know Jutta will have more to say on the power of surprise, which is quite a new concept in terms of psychology, but just to assure people that we won’t be discussing all usual health advice which we all know already. On THRIVE we’re working on a deeply individual level and in that process we’re stripping out some of the things we think we value, and really looking at ‘where do I want to put my energy for me?’
Jutta: So values-based leadership education has been around for while, but what’s new for THRIVE is that it’s surprise-based leadership development. We know that the only emotion that gets you to reset your state is surprise; happiness doesn't get you to reset, anger or fear don’t get you to reset. But it’s surprise that makes the difference, and that actually gets people unhooked and unstuck from negative behaviours.
So on THRIVE we're going to invite people to be surprised. By inviting them to be surprised we're effectively and indirectly inviting them to open up. This is something that’s quite unconventional.
We’re also working with is this idea of awe, and how powerful that can be in terms of framing our own existence. We are exploring how to tap into an emotion that's different from a conventional emotion.
Chris: Deepak Chopra talks about awe as being the ultimate human emotion. I feel that’s such an inspirational idea, and that being in a state of awe, wonder and amazement is essentially working in the magic – it’s the things we don't quite understand, the things that are beyond our comprehension.
Nature: Exploring the tangible and the intangible
Chris: The concept of all of us as being part of nature, being actually integral to it and ‘at one with nature’ to use an old cliche, is a core pillar of energy for THRIVE. I believe that everyone strives to bring a bit more nature into their lives - there is an escapism that is absolutely innate in humans that drives us to want to reconnect with nature.
We are often disconnected from the natural world, but even in cities we value our parks and gardens, there is a huge trend for houseplants at the moment, which offers those who don’t have outside space the opportunity to bring nature into their homes. Even our screen savers are often natural images!
On THRIVE we are very much working between the tangible and the intangible, between the cognitive and the visceral, and between what we know and what we feel. Coming back to quantum biology, and the idea that we are the same material as nature and as the cosmos, reflect one of the core themes of the programme, which is embracing and harnessing the power of nature.
Jutta: Coming back to what you were saying about the tangible and intangible, with meditation for example, we can talk about it in a very real way, exploring exactly what's happening in terms of consciousness, this is what we're trying to do, and this is the evidence of what can happen.
But you can also talk about meditation in a way which is very much removed from your physical being. In that state, of being or feeling removed, we can then bring it back to that question of what's actually real, and that’s subjective. So there’s the possibility that working between tangible and intangible is perhaps where the satisfaction is.
Chris: On THRIVE there is a deep exploration of where and how people want to be, to feel at their best, at their most energised, at their most connected. We’re lucky at Cranfield because there are different parts of the campus which provide an escape into nature, so we’ll be utilising those to get outside and out of the usual classroom environment.
Storytelling and narratives
Chris: Storytelling is something I’m really interested in, especially when we think about the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves and the world we inhabit. It’s really important because that's where our whole belief system sits, in those stories, and the limiting beliefs we have about ourselves, or other people or the wider world.
Jutta: I think essentially this is a reflection of the fact that we're meaning makers as people, it’s one of the things which makes us human. People tend to remember stories much more than facts and figures. Our brains are wired to remember details about people because we're social animals, and stories are much more motivating to mobilise behavioural change than didactic learning.
So our learning structures are the wrong way around. We've set up learning backwards, and although it feels like facts and figures and data and stats should be persuasive to get people motivated to do the things that are good for them, or that might help them achieve them their goals, it tends to be human stories that mobilise action.
It’s a powerful concept, because stories and narrative are often how we store information but we’re not always conscious of this. We don’t always play that story consciously, often it sits in our subconscious, so we’re not always aware of these narratives we have about ourselves.
Chris: Finding opportunities to think about and reflect on these self-made narratives is important, and often it’s in nature that we can do that most effectively. Escaping into nature to get away from the clutter and the distractions of life can help with this process, finding a space for silence to enable your mind to listen to those subconscious stories, and that’s something we do on THRIVE too.
To find out more about the THRIVE: Passion, Purpose, Performance programme download the brochure here:
