Leadership Advantedge: Leadership | Influence | Talent | Neuroscience

At the beginning of this series of GuidePosts we noted that the number of people reporting stress, anxiety and depression is massive! The WHO note that mental health issues have increased 13% in the last decade (in 2017) and substance disorders up some 20% and with suicide as the second leading cause of death among 15-29 year olds - you realise that this is a huge problem.1 Billion people across the world suffer a mental health problem in 2022!That’s 1 person in 8!!!WHO World Mental Health Report 2022The increase of substance abuse is evidence that people are trying to cope with their stress, anxiety and depression with the “pleasure” of the dopamine high. This is creating a dopamine imbalance which can lead to addiction and is instead making us chronically unhappy according to Dr Robert Lustig in his excellent book, Hacking of the American Mind.In all our striving in the pursuit of happiness we seem to be paying the price in alcohol and drug abuse, gambling, excess unhealthy food (ice cream, chocolate), smok

From what we’ve learned so far, we know that to raise performance anywhere, we need to be able to choose to be At Cause.We’ve also learned about the affects of five important neurotransmitters: Dopamine (pleasure), Serotonin (happiness), Cortisol (stress), Adrenaline (fear), Anandamide (Peace and Joy).We need to know about four additional Neurotransmitters in your brain’s “cocktail bar”: Oxytocin (love, trust), Vasopressin (attachment), Endorphins (resilience) and Acetylcholine (focus).Stay with me, because I am coming back to the impact on your leadership and performance improvement @work. Meantime, let’s talk about love:Love, often confused with joy or happiness (and sometimes pleasure) is a combination of two things: Attachment and Attraction:AttachmentAttachment is tied to the neurotransmitters Oxytocin and Vasopressin. Oxytocin is known as the “love and trust” chemical. It’s responsible for increasing the bonding between a mother and her new born, and for that trusting relationship bond with a colleague

Regardless of your choices in life, you will face adversity, trauma, threats, difficulties, trials and tribulations - such as family or relationship issues, health problems, financial concerns, or workplace stressors. Everybody does. Nobody likes it, nobody wants to, but everybody does. How you respond to those challenges makes all the difference in the world!Where is your Locus of Control - “At Cause” or “At Effect”?When you choose to be “At Cause” for your life, your focus is on choosing your actions and this increase your Circles of Power and Influence expanding them into your Circle of Concern. You have an Internal Locus of Control - that is, you believe that you have control over external forces in your life.When you are “At Effect” of others or circumstances, your focus is on factors outside your inner circles, your Concerns gain ground, shrinking your Circles of Power and Influence. You have an External Locus of Control - that is you believe that external forces beyond your control have control over yo

It’s not all doom and gloom in the brain! There’s the positive aspects of Eustress and on the flip side of fear, anxiety and depression, we can feel Pleasure, Happiness and Joy!If you ask, most people will tell you that their goal in life is to be happy. Indeed the United States Declaration of Independence considers the “Pursuit of Happiness” to be an unalienable right.But there’s a problem. When most people think about happiness, they’re really thinking about what gives them pleasure and having more of those things. These are by definition, temporal - Aristotle referred to this as Hedonia, which is happiness as pleasure.Eudainomia, on the other hand is happiness as personal Fulfilment.Let’s begin with a quick reminder about the six essential human needs and then examining the important differences between the three states: Pleasure, Happiness and Joy.Six Essential Human Needs RecapEveryone shares six essential human needs that drive our behaviour to satisfy those needs. When those needs are not being met or

Fear, stress and anxiety increase when we believe or perceive that our power, influence or control are diminished or threatened by challenges beyond our control. Fear, stress and anxiety are reactions (not illness). We have shifted our locus of control from us… to ”them”.The similarities and differences between these reactions.Internally, your reaction to fear, stress, anxiety and depression are similar yet with key difference in triggers, affects and timeframe.Fear is an intense, biological response to immediate externalthreat and a danger to your safety. Your response is usually intense, physical and very short term. It’s usually unsafe, negative and unpleasant. During the event time dilates, you see more, feel more. By the time you think about it, the trigger is in the past and you may then experience the euphoria of relief and survival. “Adrenaline junkies” thrive on that “high” and deliberately seek such challenges.Stress is your brain’s response to, mostly externally triggered challenge, change, demand

We know that choosing joy means higher performance, more happiness, less stress, less anxiety, better results, greater health. And we know that choosing joy is simple. So why do we all find it so dang difficult?!? In large part, it’s about another need we, or rather our brain has; to feel that we have control. But, we have established that you cannot control what happens outside - you may be able to influence it or concerned about it, but you cannot control it. You only control your own thoughts and your own actions. Sorry, you CAN only control your thoughts and your actions. It’s your choice.You can influence others and some things outside but you do not control them.So, I’m borrowing and adapting from Steven Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Imagine 3 circles:Thanks for reading Joy@Work! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.* The inner circle is our circle of power and contains all the things that you know that (on your better days) you can control. In this inner circle

You're Biased!Now, before you go off in a huff and rant against my assertion do, please, let me explain. Everyone has biases. Actually, you have to or else your brain would drain all of your energy.Power and PurposeThe purpose of this guide is to allow you to be aware of your own biases and those of others - NOT TO FIX THEM! - That is NOT your job. Your awareness will enable you to re-frame your communications and be prepared to challenge unwarranted assumptions or faulty thinking - with love and kindness.The power of your payoff when you put this into action will be to listen much more deeply and effectively and communicate with empathy and clarity for mutual understanding.Key questions to be considering as you read, watch or listen to this AdvantEdge Coaching Guide:* What is the ONE thing you will stop doing, start doing or change how you behave or act that will have the greatest impact on your leadership performance from your learning here?* What is the single, tiniest step you can take immediately that wi

Now that we know Why Joy@Work Matters, it’s time to let you know about a battle going on in your brain.Imagine a battlefield with two opposing sides. Only one side doesn’t realise that it’s in a battle!The enemy is steadily picking them off one by one and there’s no retaliation. Just acceptance.

The number of people worldwide reporting feeling stress or anxiety is massive! 80% of US workers say they experience stress on the job (American Inst of Stress). (70% according to APA). Covid added to the problems with a spike in anxiety (37% up from 8% pre-Covid!) and depression (30% up from 6%!) according to the World Economic Forum.One positive thing about Covid though has been that employers and Governments are beginning to take mental health a lot more seriously. Though many fall back on the health systems who seem intent on flawed idea of medicating people out of the problems rather than dealing with the root causes.In this AdvantEdge Guide Series, we’re taking a rather special approach to the issues by looking at the flip side of fear, stress and anxiety in the brain, by comparing and contrasting these with Happiness and Joy in the brain. One side raises performance, the other inhibits it.This powerful AdvantEdge Coaching Series has been refined and developed and is the basis for helping many clients t

This GuidePost talks about how we are always in pursuit of happiness. But happiness is based on chance and not something that can be constantly achieved. Pleasure is also temporary and not something that should be constantly strived for. Instead, we should focus on having joy, which is more internal and based on making peace with your self. To have Joy@Work, we should focus on leveraging our talents and doing something purposeful for others. Although it will take time and effort, the benefits will be worth it in the end.This GuidePost answers the following questions:1. What is the problem with the pursuit of happiness?2. What are the benefits of aiming for joy instead of happiness?3. What does research show about the benefits of being happy at work?4. What did the Energy Project find were the benefits of going beyond engagement?5. What is the most underutilised way to increase productivity, engagement, and performance?6. What are the three things that bring joy in the workplace?7. How can you have joy@work?Th

Public speaking is one of the top fears of many people – in fact, it’s been rated as the number one fear for some. But why is that? Is it really the act of standing in front of a group of people and talking that’s the problem?Thanks for reading Joy@Work! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.It turns out that the real fear behind public speaking isn’t the speaking itself, but rather the fear of public humiliation. We’re all concerned about what other people think of us and being put in the spotlight can be a scary thing. We’re concerned about whether we’ll make a fool of ourselves or look out of place. We worry that people will laugh at us, ridicule us, or even outright make fun of us. This fear of looking “stupid” or “silly” is what really stands in the way of many people.And, because we fear this, we can quickly become overwhelmed with performance anxiety. Now, any time we need to perform in front of anyone else, anxiety sets in.Performance Anxiety is the fear or stress you experience

We all want an inspirational leader. Someone to look up to, to give us hope and direction. A leader who engages us as individuals and treats us well. But most of all makes us want to be better.But what if that leader is you?!? And today, You’re just not feeling up for it?Welcome to this Joy@Work AdvantEdge Guide to Find Your Mojo Again by harnessing the power of your inner chemistry.Thanks for reading Joy@Work! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.And today you're feeling a bit blah. Everything's sort of "meh" and you'd like to just hang in there for the time being and let Future Self take responsibility for that.We all go through phases in life when our mood is uplifting, positive, dynamic and we feel like we could conquer the world. And then there's that "meh" moment, when everything is a little bland, and what would be really really nice is if someone else would just take charge and be the one to inspire and engage and buck us up.To choose to switch your drive and motivation on so th

Abraham Maslow proposed a sixth level in his renowned five level hierarchy of human needs, which behavioural neuroscience has since confirmed. These levels explain the essential drivers of our behaviours, reactions and reactions.We all have six foundational drivers that are at the heart of practical neuroscience.Of course, your brain is an incredibly complex organ and variations of human behaviour are an endless ocean of subtle differences. But we can identify six neuro-scientifically founded basic needs of human beings and how these influence our motivational behaviours and how we interact with the world around us.As human beings, we have developed to use the environment to its best and allow for reproduction and the furtherment of our species: our survival and growth.For leaders to be successful, they should first ensure that their own needs are met, and then understand and help their team members meet their needs. To do this, a leader needs to understand that their team members have 6 essential needs easil

In this AdvantEdge Guide we’ll discuss how establishing Command Intent is a more specific way of setting goals than SMART goals, as it has an embedded purpose. It involves imagining a successful future in each of five areas of life (your Rocket Ship for Life), and focusing on the senses of sight, feel, smell, taste, and sound to create a captivating and rich picture. For teams, the unit in charge of military simulations for NATO recommends asking themselves "if I do nothing else tomorrow, I must ____, so that ____". AdvantEdge Coaching can help to further equip and empower individuals to reach their Command Intent goals.Why do we need a Rocket Ship for Life?The Rocket Ship for Life came about because I used to suffer from a major problem. Basically, I was easily distracted. Teachers’ could rarely get, let alone keep, my attention. I’d start a new project only to quickly get bored or frustrated and move onto the next shiny object. If ADHD had been popular back then, perhaps, I could have gotten myself medicate

A change focused neuroscience approach for genuine results in your leadership, work and life that truly Empowers!All AdvantEdge Coaching is based on our unique and powerful AdvantEDGE leadership development process based on Neuroscience Research in how people learn, change and develop: EDGE stands for Encourage, Develop, Guide and Empower.It’s based on my post-grad research into effective management learning and development methods.EDGE isn’t a silver bullet or a magic pill that gets instant results but based upon the latest neuroscience and social cognitive psychology research, EDGE is like a recipe for a pragmatic change focused approach to help clients realise genuine, sustainable results in leadership, work and life.EDGE isn't only a model for coaching. You can use EDGE in any communication situation where you want to empower change or influence others.We will use the EDGE development model in all our GuidePosts, and, as well as explaining the EDGE model we’ll also clarify two other critically important a

The Purpose of this AdvantEdge Guide is to help you make better, informed decisions as you consider coaching to develop yourself or your team and organisation. There’s a lot of very convincing marketing out there that coaching is a panacea for all that ails business and organisation. Your Payoff will be you can understand for yourself, if coaching is suitable for you, and what type or style of coaching might best suit your needs. You’ll also challenge some of the common assumptions that you may have been making.The truth is, coaching is not for everybody, and there are very good reasons. Here’s the top 10 I hear from clients, in reverse order and coming in at number 10, but still a biggie:For the Full AdvantEdge Guide, all the links mentioned in the podcast and easy access to the (free!) resources mentioned, please go to the AdvantEdge Coaching System Website here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.joyatwork.coach

It's not that there is this thing called the “Great Resignation” where an unprecedented 44% of people intend to quit their jobs this year. (58% in Singapore!) It's not that there is a global problem for CEO’s and leaders of many organisations who want their staff back in the office and are finding that impossible. Some, like Elon Musk, even after threatening to fire them all.And it's not really about greed for more money, though when you get approached and offered a 20% pay hike for crossing the street, it is a temptation.It's not even that it's your best and brightest talent who are abandoning ship first. Even though they are the first to be hunted and poached.It’s a lot more systemic than the headline numbers suggest. The devil, as they say, is in the details.During covid we all learned to keep our distance from people because they might just be a tad toxic. We avoided buildings and gatherings and events and restaurants, all so we wouldn’t accidentally meet someone toxic.After 2 plus years we’re tired of av

Imagine that your needs are like a discharged battery that you are able to charge through your life activities.When the bottom cell is sufficiently filled, the next cell can be charged. All human beings have 6 essential needs, or power cells.Though, some people have faulty power packs - with a corrupted sixth cell that has been taken over by a leaky fifth cell. That is, they care less about other people because their self-esteem is so overfilled they hold others in total contempt - because they matter less than me!Beware overfilling any one cell: Gluttony and Obesity with an overfilled Cell 1, Excessive risk taking for Cell 2.And many have a leaky battery, where their own needs never get filled.What does this mean for you as a Leader?Every leader needs to understand:1. Your own needs need to be met BEFORE you have enough to give others, and2. Whilst things may look OK on the surface - people tend to hide their emotional needs fearing that they are the only ones who have them.By this, you’ll be better able to

This is Part 3 of a four part series asking the question: "Are you In Control" or "Controlling"?In this edition os the AdvantEdge Joy@Work Podcast, we're learning how wee can break free from the "Controlling" cycle and get "In Control".Stress, worry, and perfromance anxiety can be crippling your life. It's not always easy to break free of the spiral of anxiety but there is a simple solution for most people that does not involve medication or therapy.It's so shockingly simple that many people scoff at the idea. But the thing is, it works. It's how your brain works and this is a simple technique that you can employ immediately to break your brain out of the Controlling cycle and give your Frontal Lobes a chance to oput the breaks on and stop your stinkin' thinkin. When you understand what is happening in your brain you'll see why it works, and, I absolutely guarantee, you can do this. This is not like getting your body fit by going to the gym 6 times a week or training to run a marathon. It's even easier than g

This is Part 2 of a four part series asking the question: Are you In Control or Controlling?In this guide, we are digging into the roots and what is happening in our brain when we enter the Controlling Cycle.We'll learn what happens inside our brain when we face a challenge and how your unconscious mind immediately reacts to this challenge as a threat - triggering your freeze, flight or fight response.We'll learn how our brain then shifts the challenge into worrying and anxiety UNLESS your frontal lobes put the brakes on and you choose to be In Control rather than attempt to fruitlessly control others or the outside world.We'll learn that EVERYONE on the planet faces the same choices every single day and we'll learn how worrying gives us the illusion of control making us feel good about worrying - as if it ever did us any good.We'll learn why the Pre Frontal Cortex struggles to intervene and shout down the worrying cycle.See the previous episode for Part 1 if you have yet to do so. And remember to subscribe o