Lee Newman and Joaquín Uribarri IE Business School, IE School of Social & Behavioral Sciences Evolving Corporate Universities ▪ Dubai ▪ November 2011 Behavioral science for optimizing human performance. The coming behavioral revolution in leadership.

Motivation. Financial performance: depends on achieving excellence in human performance. Managing human performance is becoming increasingly difficult. Globalization Ambiguity & Uncertainty Digitalization Information Overload Situation Challenge

Motivation. Revolution in leadership development, shaped by explosion in behavioral sciences. Our Prediction

Behavioral leadership.

Behavioral science: New implications for leadership. Behavioral Economics Behavioral Decision Making Cognitive & Social Psychology Neuroscience Reflexive, default repertoires. Prone to bias, error. Predictable: Most people, much of time

Married and looking. Stefan is looking at Ana... …but Ana is looking at George. Stefan is married, but George is not. Q:Is a married person looking at an unmarried person? Stanovich, Toplak & West (Winter, 2010), Rotman Magazine.

What’s the correct answer? Is an unmarried person looking at a married person? Stefan (married) Ana ( ?) George (unmarried)

The thinking managers do, every day. If we do__, likely that competitors will __, and customers will __, leading to __, which could then… However, if we… If we do__, likely that competitors will __, and customers will __, leading to __, which could then… However, if we… If disagree with him openly in the meeting … he is likely to feel ___, which may cause him to react by _____ …limited time …under pressure

Emotional System Sneaky Mindware: 100 billion neurons, why so difficult? Gospik, Mohlin, et al ( 2011), PLoS Biology. Working Memory “CEO” of Thinking Mental Attention Long-Term Memory Low Power Noisy Too Small Poor Multi- Tasking Cognitive Limitations. Our brains: developed for world that no longer exists.

Mindware we use to think & reason is very limited. Behavior Matters

Situation: Dealing with uncertainty. Given €1000 Get €500 more, for sure. Get €1000 or €0 (50/50%) Given €2000 Give up €500 for sure. Give up €1000 or €0 (50/50%) A A B B A A B B

What do people do? Getting MoreGiving Up

Negatives hurt 2-3x as much as positives please. Daniel Kahneman 2002 Nobel Prize in Economics. Behavior Matters

Situation: The words we use. How long was the last movie you saw? short

Not just what we say, but how we frame it. Behavior Matters

Judging events: What do we remember? Cold Water (-9°C) 60 secs +30 sec, -8°C Not told about time or temp – just feel the pain! Q: Next week, which do you prefer to repeat? Kahneman, Frederickson, et. Al. (1983), Psychological Science. Cold Water (-9°C) 60 secs

What actually happens not same as what gets remembered. Behavior Matters

What does this have to do with leadership? How can employee engagement be increased? How can teams achieve extraordinary results? How should managers deal with uncertainty? How do managers really motivate others to change? How can senior managers communicate vision? What factors really drive customer satisfaction? How can management decision making be improved?

Leadership Activities Behavior, but at what level? Knowing what. + Knowing how. Knowing What Knowing How +  Success Leadership Outcomes

Prediction: Behavioral training, at a deeper level. Being able. Leadership Activities Knowing what. + Knowing how. Leadership Behaviors Leadership Outcomes +

Prediction: Behavioral training, at a deeper level. Leadership Outcomes Knowing what to achieve. Leadership Activities Knowing how to achieve. Successful Change Strategic Vision Engagement … Motivating Teams Building Consensus Influencing… Leadership Behaviors Being able to achieve. Behavioral Intelligence. Cognitive + Emotional + Social

Behavioral Fitness: Ability to make best practices happen. You Outcome: Lead successful change effort. Training: “Leading Change” Activity: Convince a person to join a coalition to lead the effort. Training: “Interpersonal Influence Tactics” Situation: Meeting with person, try to influence them to take part. Training: “Behavioral Fitness” Other Person Faster Reasoning Greater Cognitive Control Better Self Awareness/Regulation Better Multi-Tasking Behavioral Toolbox

Behavior: Need to understand it, need to train it. Impact Best-practices, put into practice. Yourself Your Team Your Organization BEHAVIORAL TOOLBOX Best Practices What / How

Behavioral Leadership: Science of optimal human performance. Behavioral Fitness Leading Self Leading Others

Training in behavioral fitness… just beginning. …to enhance IQ and critical thinking. …to improve attentional focus and flexibility. …increased cognitive control and emotional regulation. …dealing with ambiguity and uncertainty. …reduce cognitive biases. …use positive emotion to enhance creativity and innovation. …accurately read behaviors of other people. …to enhance IQ and critical thinking. …to improve attentional focus and flexibility. …increased cognitive control and emotional regulation. …dealing with ambiguity and uncertainty. …reduce cognitive biases. …use positive emotion to enhance creativity and innovation. …accurately read behaviors of other people. New training paradigms…

Positive Psychology Counseling Psychiatry Clinical Cases One key ingredient: Positive psychology. Ok Good Great Extraordinary Illness Difficulty Human Performance Fixing ProblemsOptimizing Performance Psychological TherapyPsychological “Fitness”

From science to the real-world: military. Coping with uncertainty, ambiguity. Developing and leveraging strengths. Resilience in the face of stress. $145 million Training 1 million people HBR 2011

Developments at IE in executive training. Behavioral Fitness Positive Leadership Behavioral Decision Making Dealing with Ambiguity Positive Methods for High Performing Teams Positive Approaches to Innovation & Creativity Executive Masters in Positive Leadership & Strategy Translating behavioral science … …into practical training for managers.

The time to capitalize on this trend is now.  Employee engagement & retention  Organizational innovation & creativity  Organizational resilience  Managing crisis and uncertainty  Many others…

Coordinates. Web LeeNewman.org BlogBehavioralDecisions.org