Peter O'Sullivan Follow

National Head of People & Culture at BDO in Australia,

Human Resources Leader

Using neuroscience to lead ourselves

through change
Published on September 7, 2017

Peter O'Sullivan Follow

National Head of People & Culture at BDO in Australia, 5,752 208 1,876
Human Resources Leader
1 article

In part one of this three part series of articles, Drew Moss talked about how three different
parts of the brain process change, helping us to understand why change feels so difficult.
This week, I’m going to talk about how we can use this understanding to better lead
ourselves through change.

It’s no secret that, as leaders, our actions (what we do), our language (what we say) and our
emotions (how we feel) have a strong and often unconscious impact on those around us. For
example, a McKinsey study found that leaders’ role modelling of behaviours was just as
critical in determining the success of a change initiative as having the right skills in place!
We also know that integrity in our words and actions as leaders is a critical factor in driving
employee engagement during times of change.

In many organisations, leaders often find it challenging to keep their people engaged and
motivated, even more so in this era of relentlessly fast and constant change. Before we can
effectively lead others through change, we need to be consciously aware of how we
ourselves are experiencing change, through the things we do, say and feel. Are you fully on-
board with your organisation’s change journey? If not, why not? And how can you get
yourself on-board as quickly as possible, so that you can be effective in taking others on that
journey with you?

A good point to start this process of self-reflection is by thinking about your mindset. The
Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck is the leading authority on the topic of mindset. She
identifies two very different types of mindset – the fixed mindset and the growth mindset –
each powerful and impactful in its own way.
Essentially the two mindsets reflect two different schools of thought about where ability
comes from. In a fixed mindset, ability is innate. You either have ability or you don’t. A
growth mindset views ability altogether differently – it sees ability as the result of hard
work, learning, determination and application to the task at hand.

The difference between these two views of ability is most apparent in the attitude each
mindset has toward failure. In a fixed mindset view of the world, failure is perceived as
having reached the limit of our abilities. Too bad, you can’t do it, give up! Failure is
therefore seen as negative, even shameful.

On the other hand, in a growth mindset, failure is a positive because it provides the
opportunity to learn, grow and develop. It seems obvious that a growth mindset is the
mindset that is conducive to change and innovation (and that conversely a fixed mindset
stifles change and innovation), and this is strongly supported by research. How many game-
changing innovations – from the lightbulb to the iPhone – would never have happened if
their creators had adopted a fixed mindset and given up at their first failure!

Fostering our own growth mindset is vital for us to be able to lead ourselves through change.
Effective change also requires of us a growth mindset in how we think about and relate to
others. How often do we hear ourselves (and others) imposing our (or their) own fixed views
and judgments on others – ‘Tom just isn’t very good at business development’ or ‘Jane
doesn’t have advisory skills’. Perhaps Tom isn’t good at BD and Jane doesn’t have advisory
skills, but they both have the potential to grow and develop, and as leaders we can provide
the environment and the opportunities – and the learning goals and the feedback - that will
enable them to improve.

So, adopting a growth mindset toward ourselves and others is one practical tool we can use
that will greatly impact our ability to achieve self-mastery in times of change. There are two
other techniques for leading yourself through change that I’d like to briefly share.

The first is called reappraisal. As Drew mentioned in our previous article, 70% of change
initiatives ultimately fail. Our past experiences of failed change create in us an expectation
that future change initiatives will also fail, creating and reinforcing a strong negative
feedback loop. Reappraisal is basically a kind of reframing, and in the context of change,
means that we push away our negative thoughts by consciously thinking about a positive
future state, and in particular the opportunities and positive outcomes that the change
initiative will create for us and for our organisation.

The final practical technique I want to mention is to simply acknowledge your emotions
about change. Just by being aware of those emotions and giving them a name (for example
fear, anger or sadness) makes those emotions less overwhelming, by moving us out of our
reactive amygdala and into our rational pre-frontal cortex, where we can start processing our
thoughts about the change with less emotion and more objectivity.

Last week’s article focused on helping you understand how our brains process change; in
this week’s article I’ve armed you with three practical techniques that should help you build
on that understanding of our brain processes to lead yourself through change. In the last part
of this series next week, Drew Moss will shift our focus to considering how you can use the
power of neuroscience to lead and engage others through change.

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208 Comments

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Stephen Harris 4mo

Director at: Turning Point Partners (Client Services) ; Business Acumen (Research) ; Value Streams (…

Good to discover you and your articles. I like it.

Like Reply 1 Like · 1 Reply

Peter O'Sullivan 4mo

National Head of People & Culture at BDO in Australia, Human Resources Leader

Thanks Stephen for your kind comment!

Like Reply

Alli Gibbons 3mo

I help business leaders clarify strategy, engage & develop talent, and create a performance culture t…

A great article highlighting the benefits of adopting a #growthmindset during times of

change (=always!). We're so convinced that we include a programme of growth mindset
training within change projects we deliver with clients, to help minimise defensiveness and
immunity to change.
Like Reply 1 Like · 1 Reply

Peter O'Sullivan 3mo

National Head of People & Culture at BDO in Australia, Human Resources Leader

Thanks Alli, interesting to hear about how you are using these concepts with your
clients for their change projects!
Like Reply 1 Like

Add a comment…
Using neuroscience to lead ourselves
through change
Published on September 7, 2017

In part one of this three part series of articles, Drew Moss talked about how three different
parts of the brain process change, helping us to understand why change feels so difficult.
This week, I’m going to talk about how we can use this understanding to better lead
ourselves through change.

It’s no secret that, as leaders, our actions (what we do), our language (what we say) and our
emotions (how we feel) have a strong and often unconscious impact on those around us. For
example, a McKinsey study found that leaders’ role modelling of behaviours was just as
critical in determining the success of a change initiative as having the right skills in place!
We also know that integrity in our words and actions as leaders is a critical factor in driving
employee engagement during times of change.

In many organisations, leaders often find it challenging to keep their people engaged and
motivated, even more so in this era of relentlessly fast and constant change. Before we can
effectively lead others through change, we need to be consciously aware of how we
ourselves are experiencing change, through the things we do, say and feel. Are you fully on-
board with your organisation’s change journey? If not, why not? And how can you get
yourself on-board as quickly as possible, so that you can be effective in taking others on that
journey with you?

A good point to start this process of self-reflection is by thinking about your mindset. The
Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck is the leading authority on the topic of mindset. She
identifies two very different types of mindset – the fixed mindset and the growth mindset –
each powerful and impactful in its own way.

Essentially the two mindsets reflect two different schools of thought about where ability
comes from. In a fixed mindset, ability is innate. You either have ability or you don’t. A
growth mindset views ability altogether differently – it sees ability as the result of hard
work, learning, determination and application to the task at hand.

The difference between these two views of ability is most apparent in the attitude each
mindset has toward failure. In a fixed mindset view of the world, failure is perceived as
having reached the limit of our abilities. Too bad, you can’t do it, give up! Failure is
therefore seen as negative, even shameful.

On the other hand, in a growth mindset, failure is a positive because it provides the
opportunity to learn, grow and develop. It seems obvious that a growth mindset is the
mindset that is conducive to change and innovation (and that conversely a fixed mindset
stifles change and innovation), and this is strongly supported by research. How many game-
changing innovations – from the lightbulb to the iPhone – would never have happened if
their creators had adopted a fixed mindset and given up at their first failure!

Fostering our own growth mindset is vital for us to be able to lead ourselves through change.
Effective change also requires of us a growth mindset in how we think about and relate to
others. How often do we hear ourselves (and others) imposing our (or their) own fixed views
and judgments on others – ‘Tom just isn’t very good at business development’ or ‘Jane
doesn’t have advisory skills’. Perhaps Tom isn’t good at BD and Jane doesn’t have advisory
skills, but they both have the potential to grow and develop, and as leaders we can provide
the environment and the opportunities – and the learning goals and the feedback - that will
enable them to improve.

So, adopting a growth mindset toward ourselves and others is one practical tool we can use
that will greatly impact our ability to achieve self-mastery in times of change. There are two
other techniques for leading yourself through change that I’d like to briefly share.

The first is called reappraisal. As Drew mentioned in our previous article, 70% of change
initiatives ultimately fail. Our past experiences of failed change create in us an expectation
that future change initiatives will also fail, creating and reinforcing a strong negative
feedback loop. Reappraisal is basically a kind of reframing, and in the context of change,
means that we push away our negative thoughts by consciously thinking about a positive
future state, and in particular the opportunities and positive outcomes that the change
initiative will create for us and for our organisation.

The final practical technique I want to mention is to simply acknowledge your emotions
about change. Just by being aware of those emotions and giving them a name (for example
fear, anger or sadness) makes those emotions less overwhelming, by moving us out of our
reactive amygdala and into our rational pre-frontal cortex, where we can start processing our
thoughts about the change with less emotion and more objectivity.

Last week’s article focused on helping you understand how our brains process change; in
this week’s article I’ve armed you with three practical techniques that should help you build
on that understanding of our brain processes to lead yourself through change. In the last part
of this series next week, Drew Moss will shift our focus to considering how you can use the
power of neuroscience to lead and engage others through change.

Report this
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