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Intuitively, we all know change can be uncomfortable. And probably a leader’s greatest challenge is leading change. What few know is that neuroscience is starting to explain why it’s so hard.
A 2006 article called The Neuroscience of Leadership by David Rock and Jeffrey Schwartz in Strategy & Business outlined what happens when we face the need to change. In essence, there are two forces at work.
First, when we have to consider a new idea or behaviour, we engage the conscious part of our mind, which activates the prefrontal cortex. Now the prefrontal cortex demands more of our energy as it can only handle a limited amount of data at a time – unlike the parts of the brain that handle more familiar ideas and behaviours.
So changing a long-standing habit means we have to put in more effort in the form of mental concentration – and that’s something many people find tiring and uncomfortable.
However, there is a second factor that magnifies the discomfort. You see, when we experience what neuroscientists call an “error” – a difference between what we expect to happen and what does happen, in other words, a change from the usual pattern – the circuits in the orbital frontal cortex send out intense signals.
These signals trigger activity in the amygdala, the part of the brain linked to the experience of fear and anxiety. And this causes an emotional experience, a feeling inside us that’s something wrong. Not only that, it temporarily reduces the brain’s capacity for logical reasoning.
It means that handling new challenges and facing the need for change is hard work for the brain. But more than that, the demand for change causes the brain to activate its fear circuits, magnifying the discomfort of change and making it harder to see a way through… and giving us a reason to give up!
Now of course this doesn’t help us address the practical challenge of how to change and, by the way, I’m not saying the neuroscientific explanation is the whole story behind why we find change so hard, but at least it explains what’s going on inside the brain.
The author of this blog is James Scouller, an executive coach. His book, The Three Levels of Leadership: How to Develop Your Leadership Presence, Knowhow and Skill, was published by Management Books 2000 in May 2011. You can learn more about it at www.three-levels-of-leadership.com. If you want to see its reviews, click here: leadership book reviews. If you want to know where to buy it, click HERE.
Make the most of my leadership book
Where should I send your free download?
Ideas, thoughts and tools to release your potential to lead. You'll also receive updates on my latest thinking, articles, tools and blog posts.
