Hr Library
Trending

The Neuroscience of being a Player or a Pawn

By | David Klaasen | Helping You Create Clarity, Inspire Your People & Drive Performance | Retain your best people | Changing Management Mindsets and Behaviour | Practical Behaviour Analytics

We all make our own reality. Even in these unprecedented times. Whether you believe this or not, you are always right! Your brain simply selects specific evidence in your experiences of others, or of a situation like the current pandemic, as proof for your beliefs. We only see what we believe, and this is usually done way below our conscious awareness. This means our beliefs can help or hinder our ability to respond effectively, because no matter what our situation, we tend to see ourselves as either a Player or a Pawn.

Your brain is constantly analysing incoming data and sending messages throughout your neural networks. It zips at lightning speed along well-trodden pathways. However, some of these pathways were created a very long time ago in a very different context. Perhaps when you were a teenager, in the playground at school or when you were initially rewarded or scolded for a particular behaviour as a toddler.

I know Managing Directors who feel like a Pawn because the demands of their clients, cash flow or staff constraints inhibit them from making choices. They feel like they have no choice. Yet I see others who recognize the opportunities in any situation no matter how grave and identify a number of options. They know there is always a choice, even if it is to do nothing, they know they are a Player.

Dodgy neuro-chemicals

While most readers of these articles are Directors and Managers, this stuff has nothing to do with your level of seniority in a business.  It has to do with how you choose to see yourself and your situation. Many people at work complain about how they feel dictated to or forced to do something and that they are trapped or stuck (i.e. they have no choice). When I suggest that one choice they always have is to leave, I frequently see a significant shift in body language; they relax their shoulders, let out a deep sigh and the tension leaves their face. Just having that choice enables them to take back some sense of control. This in turn enables them to think more creatively and find solutions that were not available to them while their body was pumped full of dodgy neuro-chemicals like cortisone and adrenalin. 

Click here to read the full article

Source
LinkedIn
Show More

Related Articles

Back to top button