We’ve had many guests on our Sparking Discovery show on Talk2Us Live in the last while and we have soaked up the insights, experiences and advice received from them. One thing that has struck me is the amount of times the conversation has ventured into the areas of people, purpose & culture and how those impact on performance.

This blog post is tailored especially for leaders in business, and in life, is about understanding that our brains are malleable, and that we can apply techniques to counteract our instincts. We’re not BORN like this… whatever this is.

Neuroplasticity forms part of the Neuroscience basket of techniques and practices that we can use to determine the outcomes of our actions. These techniques are powerful in business but can be used as powerfully as an individual. Charles recently spoke about The Neuroscience of trust – Trust being one of the most important factors required in building healthy relationships. Part of his content questioned how one would practically go about implementing neuroscience techniques.

Managers have tried various strategies and perks to boost employee engagement—all with little impact on long-term retention and performance. But now, neuroscience offers some answers. Through his research on the brain chemical oxytocin—shown to facilitate collaboration and teamwork—Zak has developed a framework for creating a culture of trust and building a happier, more loyal, and more productive workforce.

CEO’s globally rate Strategy Execution as a Top 3 challenge. It is generally understood that up to 80% of all strategies fail on execution. We see that executive teams are, in the majority of cases, highly competent at crafting great strategies for their organisations, only to never see them succeed.

Sheryl Sandberg has called it one of the most important documents ever to come out of Silicon Valley.

As companies are confronted with today’s big challenges, ranging from global trade wars to local political, economic and social impacts to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, they need HR Executives who are strategic, business minded, own organisational effectiveness and are able to demonstrate measurable business impact. The C-Suite, however, seems skeptical that the profession will rise to the occasion.