Advance Praise forThe Leading Brain
The Leading Brain is the best integration of neuroscience and leadership that I have ever seen.
Dr. Jonathan Schooler, neuroscientist and professor, University of California, Santa Barbara
Breathtaking. Its both a lecture on modern sciences and kind of a thriller. Ive never read a book on management so fast.
Peter Gerber, CEO, Lufthansa Cargo
Real leadership begins and ends in the brain. Science has changed the world throughout the ages and thanks to this book, it can now finally also change leadership for the good of mankind.
Liam Condon, member of the board of management, Bayer AG, and CEO, Bayer CropScience
What an interesting and helpful book. Fabritius and Hagemann have introduced the most important findings of modern neuroscience to the business communityoffering us a host of new skills to excel at work, and even with friends and family. Its highly original, remarkably informative and insightful, even humorous in many spots. I am so happy to have read it! You will be too.
Helen Fisher, PhD, senior research fellow, The Kinsey Institute, and bestselling author of Anatomy of Love
Enjoyable and informative. Covers much of what I teach my students, that they must take command of their own psychological machinery to be successful in any endeavor.
Ken Singer, managing director, Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology, University of California, Berkeley
Hagemann and Fabritius have gathered or generated great analogies and stories that support a skillful demystification of brain science without dumbing it down.
Jeremy Clark, director, Innovation Services, PARC
Amusing and inspiring... and, for me, it was indeed a page-turner.
Marcus Krug, head, SAP Intrapreneurship, SAP AG
The book is fantastic! Well-written, good examples, excellent structure. And, unlike so many business books, which can be an ordeal to get through, The Leading Brain also has a fine sense of humor. Reading it produces the very feeling of flow that the authors describe so well.
Matthias Hohensee, Silicon Valley bureau chief, Wirtschaftswoche
Very good, extremely helpful, great examples, a must-read.
Klaus Poggemann, head of Legal, apoBank
An exciting, pragmatic journey through the fascinating workings of our minds and motivations. Managers who read The Leading Brain are sure to find a wealth of insights and strategies that they can easily and intuitively apply in the workplace. This one book could significantly change your leadership style.
Malte Siewert, cofounder and managing director, Trivago
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Copyright 2017 by Friederike Fabritius and Hans W. Hagemann
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN -PUBLICATION DATA
Names: Fabritius, Friederike, author. | Hagemann, Hans Werner, 1959 author.
Title: The leading brain : powerful science-based strategies for achieving peak performance / Friederike Fabritius, MS, and Hans W. Hagemann, PhD.
Description: New York : TarcherPerigee, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016038838 (print) | LCCN 2016051763 (ebook) | ISBN 9780143129356 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781101993200 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: LeadershipPsychological aspects. | PerformancePsychological aspects.
Classification: LCC BF637.L4 F33 2017 (print) | LCC BF637.L4 (ebook) | DDC 158/.4dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016038838
While the authors have made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers, Internet addresses, and other contact information at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the authors assume any responsibility for errors or for changes that occur after publication. Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.
Cover design: Will Brown
Version_1
Friederike:
To my husband, Jochen, and our children, Benita, Wolf, and Heinrich. You fill my life with love and joy.
Hans:
To my wife, Heinke, and our children, Oskar, Anton, and Tom. It is wonderful to share my life with you.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION: THE SCIENCE OF LEADERSHIP
LEADERSHIP has long been treated as an art, a fuzzy philosophy based more on fads than on facts. That accounts for the endless stream of game-changing management books that seem to come and go almost as rapidly as Paris fashions. It also explains why todays leadership guru, so much in demand, is often tomorrows forgotten footnote.
But effective leadership isnt an art. Its a science. It shouldnt be dependent on buzzwords or slogans. It should be based on a bedrock foundation of our understanding of the brain. The ways we act, react, and interact are all products of distinct cognitive processes. What motivates us, what bores us, how we respond to threats and rewards, both as individuals and as groups, are dependent on the elaborate and seemingly miraculous neuronal networks that operate just behind our foreheads and above our ears.
Until recently, the brain was sort of a black box. Much of what goes on inside it was a mystery. But thanks to breakthroughs in neuroscience, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, we no longer have to merely speculate on the behavior of our brains. We can actually watch them in action. What weve learned from rigorous scientific studies has the potential to radically change the way we lead and succeed.
Suddenly, news about neuroscience is booming. Whats been known and discussed at the laboratory level for years is finally making its way into best-selling books. Nearly everyone, it seems, is curious to learn more about how our brains work and what that knowledge can do to improve life both at home and at work.
It hasnt always been that way. Just a few years ago, when one of us was working at a big traditional management consultancy, nobody there seemed the least bit interested to hear about neuroscience. This lack of enthusiasm worked both ways. When we asked some leading brain researchers to look for business applications for their findings, most of them seemed either unwilling or unable to search for any links.
As a result, when we first started to integrate these exciting discoveries into business seminars and coaching sessions, we were among just a handful of consultants who were making this crucial connection. After presenting our brain-based business approach to companies all over the world, we received a response from senior executives that was almost uniformly enthusiastic.