Leading with the Brain

How do businesses inspire their employees so deeply that they will grow beyond themselves to achieve mutual success? Sebastian Purps-Pardigol has figured it out. Based on insights from brain research, psychology, behavioral economics, and 150 interviews with employees and CEOs, he has devised a new, innovative approach to the meaning of leadership today and what makes businesses unbeatable. He presents seven factors business leaders should utilize to make their workforce feel more satisfied and increase the overall health and wellbeing of staff. In every business, there are hidden energies leaders cannot force their employees to use, but they can unleash these energies by leading in a human-centered way. Leading with the Brain is a fascinating and informative symbiosis of science and management.
"Neuroscience has caused quite a stir in recent years. In popular science books, however, you will rarely find descriptive examples of companies which systematically made use of these findings. Organisational consultant, Sebastian Purps-Pardigol, wrote a book which closes this gap." Ingmar Höhmann, Harvard Business Manager
"The descriptive examples are turning this abstract topic into something tangible." Thorsten Giersch, Handelsblatt

Sebastian Purps-Pardigol is a leadership coach and organizational consultant. Renowned neurobiologist Professor Gerald Hüther encouraged him to combine the insights of brain research with management training methods. Together they founded the non-profit project 'The Culture Change Code' (the-culture-change-code.com).

Contents
Foreword by Gerald Hüther 11 A symbiosis of science and economy 15
Chapter 1 Big Bang - You are the person with whom change begins 19 What do we want to tell our grandchildren? 21 We can change an entire lifetime 27 Why don't we always succeed in this? 29 Start with the internal pictures 30 Why is this role model function so important? 31 In face of your future 34
Chapter 2 Belonging - People want to feel connected 41 Phoenix Contact - Years of crisis 42 Why everyone needs his monkey 45 Phoenix Contact - Like the phoenix from the ashes 46 Loss of belonging - Worse than a prison sentence 49 Gardeur - Back to success 53 Gardeur - Re-inventing the brand 55 Unleashing your spirit 59 A quick way to more connectedness 62
Chapter 3 Development and co-creation - Human beings want to get involved 65 Eckes-Granini Germany - The C.I.A. strategy 67 Eckes-Granini Germany - From C.I.A. to OMD 69 Why we love Ikea 71 Police Directorate Braunschweig - The stimulus of the workforce 73 Development and co-creation - Three ways to more stress resistance 76 Eckes-Granini Germany - The enterprise inside the company 79 Development and co-creation - The boss spares his brainpower 81
Chapter 4 Trust - People need someone who believes in them 85 Naturtalente by Weleda 86 The Circle of Potential - How humans grow beyond themselves. 90 Strong internal pictures unfold our potential measurably 93 Johammer - Overwhelmed with confidence 97 The attitude of the boss is what ultimately counts 102 Faith and the amygdala 103
Chapter 5 Experiences - people grow when challenged 109 dm - Learning on the job 110 dm - The Adventure of Culture 114 The Circle of Potential - Experiences shape our internal pictures 117 Experiences shape the young brain 120 Upstalsboom - Growth in cascades 123 Neuroplasticity in the adult brain 129 Why doesn't every experience subsequently create neuroplastic changes? 132 People need controllable stress experiences 134
Chapter 6 Meaningfulness - People get access to their resources 139 Märkisches Landbrot - Baking within the brotherhood 142 "Someone who is not doing anything for others does not do anything for themselves" 149 Five minutes for more meaningfulness - and better performance 151 Dornseif - A shared dream 153 Co-creation and meaningfulness 159 Man's search for meaning 159
Chapter 7 Mindfulness - People finding themselves again 165 A wandering mind 169 The Neuroscience of mindfulness 172 Klosterfrau in mindfulness 179 Fast insight - slow thinking 182 Upstalsboom - Years of mindfulness 184 Upstalsboom - A meditating director 189 An epilogue in keywords - What you could do now 195
Acknowledgement 197
Commented Sources 199
Index 205