NeuroLeadership? Not. Leadership is About What Happens Outside the Brain, Not in it.
Recently, BusinessWeek ran an article about neuroleadership, a new area of study being explored by leadership consultant David Rock. In a nutshell, Neuroleadership is the idea that scientists can measure patterns of thought using EEGs and MRIs and determine those that suggest positive leadership traits.
Rock has already helped organize an neuroleadership summit in Italy that incorporates this “science of leadership” into it’s program. The cost? $3500.
Soft skills, especially those related to human behaviour, are difficult to understand and even harder to master. As such, they are often subject to their own form of alchemy. There’s a big market for turning lead into gold, after all. These days, these shamen take a promising premise, exaggerate the effects, hype the resulting gain in insight, and sell it all for big bucks. This is done brilliantly in the personal development arena by the people behind “The Secret”. I fear the the folk at BusinessWeek have fallen prey to Mr. Rock’s attempt at doing the same to leadership by introducing science as a cure for the ambiguity present in the art of leadership.
Michael McKinney over on the Leading Blog highlights the problem with applying science to an art form:
“The problem with rushing to apply a science to any field is that passion often overrides experience; we tend to throw out conventional wisdom and common sense in favor of the new. In the excitement, we begin to look for absolutes where there are none and never will be.”
Exactly. Rob May at Businesspundit elaborates:
“If you look at popular leadership blogs, very few of them treat leadership as a simple here-is-what-you-do kind of thing. It’s complex, and I don’t believe there is one style or one answer. Leadership varies as much as leaders, teams, and situations vary.”
There are no “Quick Fixes”
Leadership can’t be broken down into a science of yes and no actions to situations any more than having a fulfilling life can be broken down into simply thinking happy thoughts - ala The Secret. Dealing with people requires a degree of ambiguity, personality and human touch.
Take heed to those that will sell you methods that look at poor leadership as simply a lack of the right formula.
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