Dr. Arenander, you are a neuroscientist, professor, and business consultant. Your extensive research encompasses among others the fundamental executive processes that create a great leader. What have you discovered?

Dr. Arenander: My research over the last four decades has provided a comprehensive understanding of brain dynamics that underlie human potential. I have presented practical programs that apply the discoveries of brain research to help leaders grow personally and professionally.

How do your discoveries differ from what is out there already?

Dr. Arenander: Nearly all of leadership development, coaching, and mentoring rely on outer-directed techniques to improve or adjust one or more competencies. This approach has not solve the essential problem in the field of leadership development: While many programs can provide horizontal growth — new information, new skills — few if any programs systematically provide reliable upward growth into the top tier of personal development correlated with leadership greatness. Most leaders remain at the same level of development as when this growth leveled off, for better or worse, in their late teens.

So leaders reach a certain level of development and then stop there?

Dr. Arenander: Yes. We have a ceiling effect in corporate leadership development. Though not widely understood or appreciated, it is very real — and presents a serious obstacle both to leadership effectiveness and sustainable corporate growth.

You speak of “Upgrading the Executive Brain: Breakthrough Science and Technology of Leadership.” Tell us more about this.

Dr. Arenander: The strategy we offer is simple and research-based. Leadership effectiveness is directly correlated with one’s level of personal development. In turn, personal development is directly correlated with integrated brain functioning. The logic is simple: The greater the coherence in brain functioning, the higher your level of personal development. Every manager should know that brain functioning can be directly and holistically upgraded. We are not talking, ultimately, about giving leaders some new information. We are talking about a dramatic, measurable, physiological change in the way the brain functions — toward greater orderliness, coherence, and integration. The spontaneous result: the leader’s personal development rises above the glass ceiling and he or she becomes a more effective leader.

How does this help leaders in our rapidly changing and ever more complex and uncertain economic world?

Dr. Arenander: The brain is the governor of everything we do. Enable your brain to function in a coherent and integrated manner — the way it was designed to function — and you will respond optimally and creatively to change. You will be able to take advantage of any situation — you will never be at a loss.

Can you elaborate?

Dr. Arenander: At the basis of all leadership competencies there six core executive brain functions. These brain processes are molded throughout life by continual experience-dependent neuroplasticity — the ability of the brain to take our stream of experience and transform the circuits of our brains and hence the patterns of our emotions, thinking, and behavior. As the leader’s global EEG coherence increases, these six core executive functions grow stronger.

Leadership ability is directly related to brain functioning then?

Dr. Arenander: Absolutely. Higher levels of brain coherence are associated with more successful, creative thought and action. As leaders increase global brain coherence, they are better able to integrate and command all aspects of leadership, especially the master competency — self-leadership.

And what, specifically, should leaders do?

Dr. Arenander: I describe specific meditation techniques that cultivate more integrated brain function and mental development. The best known and most extensively researched technique is the Transcendental Meditation^® (TM) technique, which has been applied over the last four decades in businesses around the world to upgrade the executive brain functioning and improve leadership performance. This technique generates maximum global brain coherence, gives remarkably deep rest, counteracts the effects of stress, increases energy and improves health, and spontaneously enhances the entire spectrum of leadership competencies.

It sounds as if anyone in an organization could benefit from this.

Dr. Arenander: People have been saying for decades that any organization’s most important asset is its people. But this is more true than ever today. In today’s rapidly changing information economy, it is essential that leadership skills be cultivated at every level of the organization. Fortunately, there is a way to directly upgrade brain functioning in anyone, at any level — and the whole enterprise will benefit.

Does your program compete with or complement other leadership development and coaching practices now being used around the world?

Dr. Arenander: This is a breakthrough program, but it complements all other programs. Any other program will become more successful if the participants are growing in brain integration, rising in holistic personal growth, and developing the fundamental leadership competencies embedded in the brain itself. We are pleased to apply the latest scientific discoveries that provide reliable, best-practice solutions to raise leadership competencies and promote organizational transformation.

Contact us to find out how: leader@theleadersbrain.org

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