Ep. 74: Summit Speech - Tobias Kiefer "The Neuro-advantage of a Strengths-based Leadership Development Plan"

Summary: Most approaches to leadership ignore the fact that leadership development is virtually working against the way our brain works. They seem to ask people to step into an area of uncertainty, vulnerability and an area where the leader’s brain feels extreme discomfort. The result? Participants tend to opt out of the new development process and stick to the patterns which have made them successful up to this point. Since we are all wired to be social, we all fear rejection by the social group we belong to. During a session of The Extraordinary Leader™, we examined subjects with biometric devices as they worked on their personal development plans. Interestingly, we witnessed a high level of emotional activity. The fear of being rejected by their social group was undoubtedly present, resulting in the impulse to fix a so-called weakness. This session illustrates how providing leaders with an approach focused on building strengths helps participants overcome their resistance to change. The study shows how helping participants set-up their leadership development journey as a series of tests, rather than asking them to create artificial goals, increases the likelihood of igniting positive change.  This occurs while decreasing the likelihood that their prior thought processes will take over and hold them in older established patterns.  Dr. Tobias Kiefer is Global Learning Leader Advisory at EY, Munich. He is founder and owner of the leadership incubator Q595 and founding partner of theGROWTHfactory. He trains, coaches, and mentors executives and emerging leaders around the world to become more effective in their roles. He currently heads several initiatives where he and his Partners inject neuroscience and neurofeedback into leadership, sales, and PresEntertainment® programs to measure character traits, empathy, and the impact of stress. He postulates a strongly evidence based approach to leadership and can demonstrate (live!), how highly effective leaders can make a difference for others and their organizations. Dr. Kiefer practices and teaches “Agile Leadership”, a concept derived out his studies in neuroscience, the needs he observes in a highly volatile business environment, and his long-standing experience as leader, executive coach and trainer. Dr. Kiefer has always been at the forefront of building something new – be it in industry and consulting where he created the blueprint for the eBusiness Strategy at a leading German Bank, implementing ePayment solutions, crafting eTicketing solutions and creating new ways of P2P Learning in a global setting. His academic paper “Learning Lasting for AGES” was awarded as the “Neuroleadership Paper of the Year” and is one of the most commonly used concepts for modern learning design. An entrepreneur, speaker, coach & trainer with over 15 years of experience leading successful change processes in the professional services industry and driving large-scale strategic projects. He has worked in various cultures and geographies, including Europe, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, and North America. As former athlete, outdoor sports enthusiast, and father of two, he offers a good balance of being edgy and realistic. His teams and clients appreciate his agile leadership style and focus on breaking with unproductive & unhealthy habits. His underlying theme: Get people to challenge the status quo and empower them to give 100% – for better business and better personal results.