The Neuroscience of Leadership with Dr. Bruce Hiebert

06 Feb The Neuroscience of Leadership with Dr. Bruce Hiebert

Dr. Bruce Hiebert was the first speaker in a series of events that Tekara is sponsoring with IABC/BC. He was provocative and insightful. At the end of his talk you may not have agreed with all that he was asserting, but I was left having to think about the implications to leadership and my consulting practice.

A few of the thoughts he left us with were based on how our brain is designed and how that plays out in group dynamics:

• All decisions are rooted in emotion
• We are more comfortable mimicking than standing out
• Leaders arise from the group
• People that are good at group cohesion are not leaders
• We should be suspicious on how we respond to leaders
• Groups regularly function well without leaders

It was an action-packed session. To see a more comprehensive (and in some ways colourful) summary of Dr. Hiebert’s presentation check out the insights collected during our Live Tweeting of the event.

I would like to thank Dr. Hiebert and IABC/BC for creating the space for communicators to think about leadership.

If you want to learn more about The Neuroscience of Leadership, you can find Dr. Hiebert at the University Canada West where he uses his background as an ethicist, historian, and demographer to teach students and Chair the undergraduate programs.