Neuroscience and leadership: the promise of insights. (2011)

“For the last 100 or so years, we have studied leaders’ personality, intelligence, values, attitudes and even behavior. But seldom has anyone ventured physiologically inside of leaders.

Richard Boyatzis, Professor in the Departments of Organizational Behavior, Psychology, and Cognitive Science at Case Western Reserve University.

Featured in Ivey Business Journal, January / February 2011

An introduction to some important findings in neuroscience that have the potential to tell us what we need to know to be good, even great leaders.

“For the last 100 or so years, we have studied leaders’ personality, intelligence, values, attitudes and even behavior. But seldom has anyone ventured physiologically inside of leaders.

“Advances in fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging), access to people and machines, and interest in more holistic approaches to studying leadership have made this possible. This has become so popular and hot that a special issue of Leadership Quarterly is being reviewed right now on the Biology of Leadership (Senior, Lee & Butler, 2010).

“In this brief overview, I will use a few of our current studies to highlight some of the areas that seem to hold promise.”

Access the full article here: The Promise of Insights