tnr2013 david rock, the neuroscience of engagement

© David Rock 2013 www.NeuroLeadership.Com 1

Annual Summit (& ongoing knowledge sharing)

Journal Post-Graduate & Masters Degrees in NeuroLeadership

Informing leadership development, coaching, change management, learning.

Self-funding research and education.

The neuroscience of:

• Making decisions & solving problems

• Staying cool under pressure

• Collaborating with others

• Facilitating change Davis & Rock, 2012

Organization

3. Applied Studies

2. Summary Frameworks

1.  Laboratory Studies

Davis & Rock, 2012


Neuroscience of High Performance

Neuroscience of Engagement

Neuroscience of Transitions

Neuroscience of Quality Conversations

Neuroscience of Organizational Change

Assess pilot error in the cockpit based on cognitive load

Impact of mindfulness training on high school students

Teach attentive focus to mine workers to avoid falls

Brain imaging of Korean leaders during apology

Level of Importance

Individual Line manager Manager of managers Executive

Self & social awareness

Technical skills

Capacity for self & social awareness

1.  We hire & promote goal-focused leaders

2.  Being goal-focused switches off people circuits

3.  High cognitive load reduces mentalizing


A heightened emotional connection that an employee feels

for his or her organization, that influences him or her to

exert greater discretionary effort to his or her work.

(Conference Board 2006)

A combination of commitment to the organisation and its

values, plus a willingness to help out colleagues

(organisational citizenship). It goes beyond job satisfaction

and is not simply motivation. Engagement is something

the employee has to offer: it cannot be 'required' as part of

the employment contract.

(CIPD, 2008)

1.  The neural basis of engagement

2.  The drivers that impact engagement

3.  Levels of engagement from a neural perspective

4.  The effect of engagement on the brain

5.  Measuring engagement biologically

6.  Insights on improving engagement

Away

Threat

Toward

Reward

Rock (2008)


Away

Threat Toward

Reward

Rock (2008)

More cognitive resources (Arnsten)

More insights (Jung-Beeman)

More ideas for actions (Frederickson)

Fewer perceptual errors

Wider field of view

• Increased motor functions

• Reduced working memory

• Reduced field of view

• Generalizing of threats

•  Erring on the side of pessimism

Friedman & Förster

Small threats have a big impact…"

COGNITIVE NETWORKS: Includes PFC and lateral PFC.

LIMBIC SYSTEM: Includes striatum, amygdala, central/autonomic nervous system.

SOCIAL NETWORK: Self and social circuits including the medial PFC.

SELF-REGULATION NETWORK: Regulating both cognition and emotion, ACC.

LEARNING AND HABIT CIRCUITS: Working memory, memory, basal ganglia.


COGNITIVE NETWORKS: Inattention. Wandering. Mistakes made.

LIMBIC SYSTEM: Highly/low aroused, overactive.

SOCIAL NETWORK: Misconnection.

SELF-REGULATION NETWORK: Dysfunction.

LEARNING AND HABIT CIRCUITS: Distracted, Disrupted.

Overall: less resources available.

COGNITIVE NETWORKS: Focused, not distracted easily.

LIMBIC SYSTEM: Reward state.

SOCIAL NETWORK: Able to read self and others well.

SELF-REGULATION NETWORK: Well resourced, more effective.

LEARNING AND HABIT CIRCUITS: Lots of resources for learning.

Overall: Optimal and flow state.

Away

Threat Toward

Reward

Actively disengaged Disengaged

Engaged Deeply engaged

Neutral

-100 0 +100

Our best and worst moments are social

Positive social traits trump bad health habits

Why heavy drinkers outlive non drinkers

Collective intelligence is more social than IQ based


Cyberball And then….

Social pain = physical pain

Away

Threat

Toward

Reward

Rock (2008)


1

2

3

4

5

Izuma et al., 2008

Having a good reputation

=

Winning money

The brain is a prediction machine.

Uncertainty arouses the limbic system.


The brain likes to be able to predict

and have a say in the future.

A feeling of having a choice

dramatically impacts stress levels.

Being able to choose is more rewarding

and activates reward brain regions.

Leotti & Delgado, 2011

Friend or foe

Trust or distrust

Connect or don’t connect

Foe is the default

Liking people in your

own group (and

disliking people in the

out-group) is reflected

in brain activity.

Van Bavel et al., 2008


Rock & Cox, 2012

Perception

Empathy

Motivations

Brain regions associated with primary rewards – food, pleasant touch or pleasant memories, money, a picture of a loved one -

those same regions were active when people received fair offers, compared to

unfair offers of equal level.

Golnaz Tabibnia, UCLA

Away

Threat

Toward

Reward

Rock (2008)

Away

Threat

Toward

Reward

Rock (2008)


•  Engagement

•  Leadership practices

•  Motivation & incentives

•  Managing performance, feedback, coaching

•  Teams & collaboration

•  Organizational change

Predictive (Before)

Rock & Cox, 2012

Regulatory (During)

Explanatory (After)

Leadership event

How brain research helps

Measure engagement

A: Self report

B: Bio markers:

fMRI

EEG

Cortisol levels

Skin conductance

Heart rate variability

Other

How to increase engagement

Status: Recognize incremental growth, change the comparisons

Certainty: Find the patterns, normalize, over-communicate

Autonomy: Provide choices, give parameters

Relatedness: Connect people together, reduce social threat

Fairness: Be transparent


Neuroscience provides a new theoretical framework for engagement.

Engagement is more than an idea, it has a real biological impact.

More accurate measurement and interventions may be possible.

•  88% increase in engagement

•  96% better prepared to lead change

•  500% increase in coaching effectiveness

•  17:1 return on investment

Learning about your brain can be addictive.

We think it’s a positive addiction.

With similar benefits to mindfulness training.

Resources

NeuroLeadership.org"

•  Education up to Masters"

•  Summits & Recordings"

•  Journals"

NeuroLeadership.com"

•  Leadership development programs"

•  Coach Certification Programs


Resources

Books: Your Brain at Work Quiet Leadership

Coaching with the Brain in Mind

Papers: SCARF 2008 & 2012, Neuroscience of Engagement Managing with the brain in mind

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: davidrock101

Blogs: PsychologyToday.com, Huffington post, HBR, DavidRock.net

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