Leadership At Scale: Better leadership, better results

We do not categorize them as ‘adult learning principles’, but organizations would undoubtedly benefit from taking them into account, as they enhance learning transfer but also general performance. Especially the areas of maintaining a healthy lifestyle and meditation and mindfulness are making inroads into organizations, and for good reason, as we outline below.

Despite the speculation on whether it would be evolutionary useful that 90 per cent of an organ which represents only 2 per cent of body weight and yet consumes 20 per cent of energy, should be idle, the myth that we only use a very small fraction of our brain has prevailed. This neuromyth serves as the basis for several novels and science-fiction movies. It has been further supported by the premature interpretation of activation hotspots obtained by imaging studies. When interpreting the lack of signal in the rest of the brain during these studies, it was forgotten that most functional imaging contrasts two conditions (i.e. the activation might have simply been cancelled out in the comparison) and that a statistical threshold is underlying the results (i.e. having no signal with the chosen statistical threshold does not mean having ‘no activation at all’).¹⁷

By now, more carefully interpreted functional brain scans have shown that, irrespective of what a person is doing, generally the entire brain is active and, depending on the task, some areas are more active than others. People learn new ideas and new skills, not by tapping into an unused part of the brain, but by forming new or stronger connections between nerve cells. Doing this requires attention, which is the cognitive process of selectively concentrating on one aspect of the environment while ignoring others. Attention is essential not only to learn, but also to carry out tasks in general and succeed at work, in relationships, and for self-awareness.

This insight has important implications for our effectiveness on the job and for learning. Everybody knows the habit of quickly checking e-mails or planning for the next meeting in the middle of a meeting or training session. Today's life and working environment – with smartphones and ‘always on’ culture – pose serious challenges to our ability to ‘single-task’. The problem is that multi-tasking engages large parts of the brain’s working memory; this diverts attention away from our initial (primary) focus. In other words, the brain is not able to multi-task because multi-tasking requires us to switch between concurrent tasks¹⁸ (all of which require attention); this in turn commits large parts of the working memory’s capacity, diminishing our overall ability to carry out tasks and to learn.¹⁹

There is intriguing work demonstrating that the mindset of a person has a clear impact on the outcome of learning and performance. As an example of this influence, take the following experiment: Female Asian students reminded of their Asian heritage performed much better in a subsequent math exam compared to a group which was reminded of the stereotype that ‘maths is hard for girls’.²⁰ The ‘stereotype threat’ leads to a negative perception and mindset on your own performance and learning in general significantly deteriorates performance and learning outcomes.²¹

A growth mindset, on the other hand, with a positive attitude towards oneself and learning, improves one’s ability to overcome challenges and learn. People with a ‘growth mindset’, in contrast to those with a ‘fixed mindset’, love challenges, enjoy effort, strive to learn, value and believe in their improvement and consistently see potential to develop new skills.²² Studies show that learning interventions in which a growth mindset was instilled in high school students by, for example, describing the brain as a muscle that can become stronger the more it is used, helped to trigger significant improvement in grades and study habits²³. Organizations must thus cultivate an atmosphere and culture of learning, to help overcome stereotype threats and fixed mindsets. This boosts not only learning but also performance in general.

There is increasing work on the ingrained biases that humans have, popularized by, among others, Daniel Kahneman. For example, people have a ‘confirmation bias’ (tendency to seek confirming evidence), ‘availability bias’ (focusing on the most easily recalled information or vivid events), and an ‘overconfidence bias’ (overstating one’s abilities).

The challenge is two-fold: first, people are often unaware of their biases. Second, even if people are aware, they are still as susceptible to making the cognitive errors as others, if pushed to make a quick decision and not using the ‘thinking slow’ system of Kahneman.²⁴ We will not go into an in-depth review (for that, please refer to the references). Instead we will draw the implications for learning interventions.

Biases reduce working effectiveness and the readiness of the brain to learning. In terms of general performance, they can lead to employees taking the wrong decision, based on incomplete data (for example, an investment decision). In a learning context, some might think that they have ‘less to learn’ than others, or approach learning with a mindset of confirming what they already know instead of seeking new insights; both could inhibit the learning process.

The reason to find and counter biases is to help individuals (and for that matter whole organizations and even societies) understand how they make decisions and make better ones. Learning interventions should build in time for self-reflection and explicit discussions about biases. At an organizational level, it is important to build in the right structures and processes to improve decision-making.

If we are tired, our mind wants to go to sleep. If we do not exercise, the mind becomes restless and less energized. If we are hungry, our mind is thinking of food. If we are overly stressed, we may become anxious and even depressed. These are the basic hygiene factors that need to be in place to enhance our performance and our experience of learning. However, as we show below, these elements are more than hygiene factors. Sleep, physical activity, nutrition, and stress management are essential for both physical energy as well as mental clarity. Getting these factors right is not just a ‘nice to have’, it should be regarded as a ‘must have’, in order to enhance employee performance and learning. (These elements are not meant to be comprehensive – they do not cover, for example, interventions based on positive psychology or spirituality – however, they offer the key building blocks to maintaining a healthy lifestyle.)

That sleep, exercise, nutrition, and stress management are important is not new information for anyone reading this book. Mens sana in corpore sano (‘a healthy mind in a healthy body’ interpreted to mean that physical exercise and bodily health are essential parts of mental and psychological well-being) was said almost two thousand years ago by the Roman poet Juvenal. What is different now, with the advent of more advanced fMRI techniques, is our ability to measure the magnitude of the impact of a healthy lifestyle on our ability to carry out cognitive tasks and learn new ones. And that impact is big. Below we review the impact of sleep, exercise, nutrition, and stress management on your ability to focus on tasks and learn new skills. The reviews are brief, and we refer the interested reader to the original references.

In addition, sleep deficiencies impair the performance of leaders by undermining important forms of leadership behaviours. Sleep-deprived brains struggle to carry out higher order executive functions involving the neocortex: these are functions such as problem solving, reasoning, organizing, inhibition, planning, and executing plans.²⁶ To give just a few examples, research shows that after roughly 17 to 19 hours of wakefulness (let’s say at 11 p.m. or 1 a.m. for someone who got up at 6 a.m.), individual performance on a range of tasks is equivalent to that of a person with a blood-alcohol level of 0.05 per cent. That’s the legal drinking/driving limit in many countries. After roughly 20 hours of wakefulness (2 a.m.), this same person’s performance equals that of someone with a blood-alcohol level of 0.1 per cent, which meets the legal definition of drunkenness in the United States.²⁷

Another study found that lack of sleep can severely alter emotional intelligence. In a sleep-deprived state, the brain is more likely to misinterpret emotional cues from others and to overreact to emotional events,²⁸ and you tend to express your feelings in a more negative manner and tone of voice.²⁹ Recent studies have shown that people who have not had enough sleep are less likely to fully trust someone else, and another experiment has demonstrated that employees feel less engaged with their work when their leaders have had a bad night of sleep.³⁰ Additionally, it is also well known that lack of sleep has a profound effect on our physical health through its effects on our immune system, metabolism, cell renewal and cardiovascular health. It can also lead to accelerated cognitive decline (brain aging) and early death. The main takeaway: for most people, this means ensuring at least seven to nine hours of quality sleep per night.³¹ Key factors that typically affect sleep quality are stress, caffeine, alcohol in excess of one glass of wine (or equivalent), and a non-conducive sleep environment (for example, noisy, light, too hot/cold, uncomfortable pillow, blanket or mattress). In addition, it can be helpful to maintain a fairly consistent sleep schedule, and avoiding long naps during the day.

The issue is that a large number of executives do not get enough sleep, and remain in denial about the facts.³² Almost half (46 per cent) believe that lack of sleep has little impact on leadership performance. Four out of ten (43 per cent) say they do not get enough sleep at least four nights a week (and nearly six out of ten that they do not sleep enough at least three nights a week). 66 per cent said they were generally dissatisfied with how much sleep they get, and 55 per cent were dissatisfied with the quality of sleep. Almost half (47 per cent) of the leaders in our survey felt that their organizations expect them to be ‘on’ too long and too responsive to emails and phone calls. And 83 per cent of the leaders said their organizations did not spend enough effort educating leaders about the importance of sleep.

Recent studies have shown clearly that the cognitive abilities of someone in good physical condition are different (better) than those of someone in poor physical condition. And that someone in poor physical condition can improve cognitive functions by getting into shape. The majority of studies reviewing the link between exercise and cognitive function have centred on the elderly and show that a healthy lifestyle correlates highly with cognitive performance, on measures such as long-term memory, reasoning, attention, problem-solving, abstract thinking and improvization. Exercise has also been shown to promote brain elasticity and thus improve the ability to learn.³³

While less conclusive, other studies show that the benefits of exercise are not limited to the elderly, but benefit all adults³⁴ as well as children in school.³⁵ One study, for example, looked at more than 10,000 British civil servants aged between 35 and 55, and showed that employees with low levels of physical activity were more likely to have lower levels of cognitive performance, especially related to fluid intelligence (requiring improvisatory problem solving).³⁶ Studies have also shown that it is in fact exercise itself that increases cognitive function (and not that smarter people are more likely to exercise in the first place).³⁷

There are also strong indications that exercise can help enhance creativity,³⁸ improve mood and confidence (in part due to the release of serotonin),³⁹ reduce stress (in part due to the release of endorphins),⁴⁰ and improve productivity and energy levels (through the release of dopamine).⁴¹ Finally, though not elaborated on here, it is worth mentioning that exercise helps slow aging, prevent age-related mental illnesses (for example, dementia, Alzheimers), improve mood in general, decrease depression, and boost the immune system.⁴²

It is important to note that not all cognitive activities are affected by exercise – short term memory and certain reaction times, for example, seem uncorrelated to exercise. In addition, there is a high degree of variance between how much individuals benefit from it. The vast majority of people do indeed typically show improvements, but some show none. Nonetheless, the evidence points towards an important role of exercise in learning and general employee performance.

The next question, then, is how much exercise is enough? The gold standard is that we should do a minimum of three weekly sessions of aerobic exercise (for example, jogging, biking, swimming), at around 30 minutes each time. However, there are many ways to achieve the equivalent of 3 × 30 mins per week more efficiently, which can be especially helpful when busy. Examples include high intensity interval training (HIIT), and shorter high intensity circuit training (HICT) workouts done daily (for example, Tabata four-minute circuits and ‘the seven-minute workout’). Adding in anaerobic exercise (strength training) once or twice a week can furthermore enhance physical and mental results. Strength training is especially important during weight loss programmes, as it helps maintain (or even build) muscle mass. It is generally considered safe (and even beneficial) to exercise up to six days per week, at 30–60 minutes per session.⁴³ However, some studies have shown that over-training can begin to reverse the mental health benefits of training.⁴⁴ Individual results will vary, and it is always best to consult a physician prior to changing an exercise regime.

In addition, it is important to consider the effects of one’s lifestyle in general. Even when exercising the recommended amount, there could still be health implications from an overly sedentary lifestyle. The majority of the calories we are burn are from ‘non-exercise activity thermogenesis’ (NEAT), i.e. the energy expended for everything we do that is not sleeping, eating or sports-like exercise, such as walking, typing, performing yard work, and fidgeting. Even trivial physical activities increase metabolic rate substantially and it is the cumulative impact of these activities that culminate in an individual's daily NEAT.⁴⁵ The implications? It is important to couple a regular exercise regime with a more active lifestyle. This includes walking more (and measuring this using a pedometer), cycling to work, taking up physical hobbies (for example, gardening, trekking, dancing) taking the stairs, and using standing work stations.

Like exercise, the important role of a varied and healthy diet in regards to general health and to cognitive function is not new. Studies have shown, for example, that specific nutrients have important effects on the brain’s ability to function and learn. Some of the beneficial nutrients highlighted in a comprehensive study are omega-3 fatty acids, curcumin, flavonoids, saturated fat, vitamins B, C, D, E, choline, carotene, calcium, zinc, selenium, copper and iron.⁴⁶

Other studies have highlighted the role of blood sugar (glucose) levels and insulin on brain function. The brain requires a steady supply of glucose to function properly. Insulin aids this process by helping to move glucose into the cells in the body. If blood sugar levels drop too low, the brain is unable to concentrate and we may even experience dizziness or drowsiness. If, on the other hand, we consume too much sugar (and cause a spike in blood sugar levels) our body produces extra insulin to help drive the extra glucose into the cells. This insulin spike can deplete our normal glucose levels more rapidly than usual, causing blood sugar levels to fall below normal levels one or two hours after the ‘sugar rush’. This can lead to impaired cognitive functions (for example, inability to concentrate), mood swings (for example, irritability); it also depresses the immune system and promotes fat storage.⁴⁷

More progressive research has focused on the interaction between microbiomes in the gut and the brain. There is increasing evidence that intestinal microbiota influence brain development and behaviour. Studies on humans have been limited (most are on animals), but researchers have drawn links between alterations in the gut microbiome (for example, from different types of food intakes) and neurological conditions, including autism spectrum disorder, anxiety, depression and chronic pain. One experiment found, for example, that eating yoghurt twice a day, for four weeks, made (human) subjects react more calmly than a control group to a series of images of facial expressions depicting emotions such as happiness, sadness and anger. It is posited that bacteria in the yogurt changed the makeup of the subjects’ gut microbes, and that this led to the production of compounds that modified brain chemistry.⁴⁸

Finally, it is worth mentioning the importance of proper hydration. Even mild dehydration, defined as a one to two per cent loss in normal water volume in the body, has been shown to influence mood, energy levels and the ability to think clearly. Mild dehydration can happen in as little as four hours without drinking.⁴⁹

The sum of the above studies reinforce the importance of nutrition in peak cognitive performance. The typical guidelines for managing nutrition are to eat a varied diet with a good mix of proteins, healthy fats, fibre, and complex carbohydrates, avoiding processed/low nutrient foods and sugars, and ideally dividing one’s required calorie intake into four to five small meals spread throughout the day to maintain blood sugar and brain glucose levels. In addition, it is important to stay properly hydrated and drink eight glasses of water per day, while avoiding excessive caffeine and alcohol. We also recommend learning the basics of calories and nutrition, in order to be able to understand nutrition labels on food and drink products, and manage one’s calorie intake. Important measures to track are one’s weight, body fat percentage and waistline. According to numerous studies, the waistline is one of the best predictors of future health, and a large waist circumference is linked to numerous diseases including cancer, Alzheimers and diabetes.

Stress, in itself, is not bad – as we saw in Core Principle 3, stretching people outside of their comfort zones is an important element of enhancing learning and performance. The issue arises when the stress is too severe or continues for an extended period of time, which can lead to regular bouts of acute stress or chronic stress. Stress has increased in many parts of the world over the past 30 years. Today, over 50 per cent of employees in major economies globally feel that stress negatively impacts work productivity, and six out of ten people feel that their stress levels are rising.⁵⁰ Stress has been dubbed ‘the silent killer’ as well as the ‘health epidemic of the 21st century’ by the World Health Organization. It affects more areas than people are typically aware of, and can lead to a weakened immune system, fertility problems, higher blood pressure, heart disease, anxiety, depression, insomnia, obesity and muscle pain.

As such, it is critical to understand the symptoms of stress and how to recover. Some common symptoms include headaches, feeling overwhelmed, feeling nervous or anxious, muscle aches, chest pain and rapid heartbeat, insomnia, frequent colds and infections, low energy, and feeling depressed or sad. Research shows that symptoms are recognized by most people (i.e. people know that they are stressed), yet far from everyone deals with stress in an optimal way. A large portion of people do not discuss the symptoms with their physicians even after feeling them for an extended period of time, and many resort to unhealthy coping mechanisms (for example, smoking, drinking, eating junk food, drugs, and withdrawal from friends and family). Additionally, stress can be formally measured in a number of ways, including HRV tests or through questionnaires.

While there are a large number of stress management techniques – including prioritization, time management, cognitive therapy, and good old stress balls – our focus here is on the broad concept of recovery. Recovery is an energy management concept that is well known and scientifically adopted in the training plans of professional athletes: Roger Federer and Usain Bolt typically sleep over 10 hours a day and – to perform at their peak during competitions – their training plans foresee periods of total rest to recharge their batteries. Recovery is a stress management technique (for both physical and mental stress) that has to do with understanding one’s thresholds and ensuring adequate recovery when the thresholds are breached.

The growing ‘always-on’ culture that many people (especially leaders) experience in many cases hinders effective recovery, often resulting in increased stress and decreased energy levels and performance. For people to perform at their peak, they need recovery. Recovery can take many forms, but in general it requires elements of the following:

In sum, it is important to view stress management and recovery in the same light as proper sleep, exercise, and nutrition. The four elements are interlinked and must all be in place in order to have a healthy lifestyle. If even just one of them is not there, your health will likely be compromised.

We discussed above that meditation and mindfulness can help with stress management and recovery. However, meditation and mindfulness has benefits in its own right. It is well established that attention is a crucial pre-requisite for learning. There are promising results showing that regular meditation and mindfulness exercises can enhance attention capabilities and therefore improve the general learning process.⁵¹ Moreover, meditation sessions have shown to improve cognitive functions like mental spatial capabilities⁵² and the ability to make fine visual discrimination.⁵³

Psychologists have been studying the ancient contemplative practice of mindful meditation since the 1970s, and scientific interest in mindfulness has grown rapidly in the past decade. Now, a large number of peer-reviewed studies have carefully described the many physical and mental health benefits of the practice of mindful meditation. These benefits include – besides the above mentioned effects on attention and visual discrimination – reduced stress, relief from symptoms of anxiety and depression, improved sleep quality and emotional well-being⁵⁴ and boosts in the immune system. In addition, meditation can help people build more self-awareness, clarity and centredness.⁵⁵

Even simple meditation techniques such as concentrated breathing have been shown to increase grey matter in parts of the brain associated with learning and memory, controlling emotions and compassion. For example, a team led by Harvard scientists has shown that just eight weeks of mindful meditation can produce structural brain changes significant enough to be picked up by MRI scanners.⁵⁶

For these reasons, an increasingly prominent cadre of organizations are giving their employees opportunities to benefit from mindfulness and meditation.⁵⁷ Most such programmes have garnered enthusiastic support from employees, who often see a marked improvement in their mindsets and job performance.

For example, employees at the health insurer Aetna who have participated in the company’s free yoga and meditation classes report, on average, a 28 per cent decrease in their levels of stress and a productivity increase of 62 minutes a week – an added value of approximately $3,000 per employee a year. CEO Mark Bertolini, who started the programme a few years ago, marvels at the level of interest generated across the company; to date, more than a quarter of Aetna’s 50,000 employees have taken at least one class. Leaders like Bertolini understand that providing them with the tools to become more focused and mindful can foster a better working environment conducive to development and high performance.⁵⁸