How can leaders use neuroscience and psychology to improve business? Dr Lynda Shaw shares insights from her expertise in cognitive neuroscience and psychology and experiences as an adventurer in Antarctica trekker of mountains in six of seven continents
Training Journal: How did you get into neuroscience and psychology?
Dr Lynda Shaw: I have worked in several sectors including as an airline cabin crew, a gym owner and a personal trainer, but then my father died. He had previously told me I should go to the Himalayas so I decided to go to try and deal with my emotions and was there for what would have been his birthday. I went home and found it hard to concentrate for a further three months so decided to ground myself by going to night school and found I liked it. I went on to university to study social anthropology, but my children were school age, so I attended my local university which offered social anthropology as a joint honours degree with psychology.
Over time psychology started to supersede my love of social anthropology so I then did a master’s in psychology and then a PhD in the neuroscience of unconscious processing of emotion. The combination of these degrees and my time working in assorted businesses gave me the experience and incentive to become a business psychologist and cognitive neuroscientist, whilst juggling my children.
TJ: How does neuroscience and cognitive psychology help with mentoring the C-suite?
Lynda: Cognitive psychology is the science of how people think, use emotion, creativity, decision-making and problem solving. Once the C-suite knows why people do what they do, they will communicate with those people better, understand how they form habits and make decisions, and deal with problems and emotions effectively. This means you progress further in business relationships and operations and have a greater awareness of how customers and employees think and behave which facilitates engagement, loyalty and collaboration.
TJ: What do neuroscience and psychology give to learning and development, and what are the shortcomings?
Lynda: Learning and development is increasingly using psychology and neuroscience to look at behaviour, thoughts, habits and ideas that affect employees, consumers and clients in order to have an edge over competitors, have greater success and a healthier, more engaged workforce. We need to harness the potential of individuals and the workforce by learning better techniques, new information and strategies to find solutions. Understanding learning, behaviour, consciousness, perception and memory is vital to the training sector.
TJ; What do you see coming up in the next 25 years of the field and how it applies to workplace learning?
Lynda: 25 years is a very long time in the development in neuroscience! AI will make an enormous difference of course. Maybe it’s a question to ask AI! As technology develops, we will continue to rethink what we think we know and change based on new evidence. We need to move beyond the ‘illusion of truth’ which is where we hold onto a belief even if it is based on outdated beliefs and misinformation, meaning we are forever misinformed.
The key to doing this well is ensuring it is relevant, specific, measurable and useful. Using ever-developing neuro-measuring equipment and technology makes this easier.
TJ: You enjoy working with geniuses, innovators or big thinkers. Why are you now specialising in working with them?
Lynda: Last year I looked at my young grandbabies and wondered what the world would be like when they are my tender age. I got upset, so I realised I needed to start to make a difference in how I live my life with regards to sustainability and recycling, but that of course is not enough so I wondered what else I can do to help. I realised we need genius ideas to solve the massive problems facing us, and I know how to pull out genius thoughts from people and to help them communicate and develop their ideas.
Sadly many geniuses are overlooked and forgotten or could be walking amongst us, and we and they, would never know. Whilst most geniuses avoid shouting from the rooftops, they may be willing to share a genius idea. Many geniuses need help presenting their ideas to their peers or line managers or validating the efficacy of their latest ideas. Businesses may need help to unlock a new level of creativity, collaboration and success to be enriched by the contributions of these exceptional minds.
TJ: How is the genius mind different when it comes to training?
Lynda: A genius mind is often associated with high levels of intelligence, thinking about abstract concepts deeply and broadly and someone who is insightful and reflective. A genius mind may exist for several reasons from upbringing on the nurture side, to having parents who are natural experts on the nature side.
We build neural pathways according to what we do so our environment as a child develops the brain enormously. The genius mind will have denser neural pathways. So in terms of training, if you focus on something in any kind of learning situation that you love doing and have a natural talent for it, you will develop neural pathways that support creativity, innovation and productivity.
TJ: What are the best and hardest things about your job?
Lynda: I thoroughly enjoy working with people and seeing them flourish and achieve. Understanding and unlocking the power of our mind allows us to change our journey and play a vital part in the success of the organisation. The hardest part of my job is having to stay ahead of research; it comes from all over the world so it can be tricky to keep on top of and to condense this information and relate it to business to help my clients, but I do my best!
Dr Lynda Shaw is an international speaker, neuroscientist, leadership psychologist, genius mentor and communication expert at her company
