The July Business Week story was quite a rush. This two page article on the birth of the neuroleadership movement generated quite a bit of interest and web discussion. The article was slightly positive though the writer took a dig. Some people thought we didn't need the field, that leadership was fine without this kind of science, others thought it was long overdue. I wrote a full response to the article and to online comments via an interview at 'Leadership now' blog. There was also a good article about the overall field published recently in The Guardian, a newspaper in London.

The Business Week writer was of the view that because the field didn't show anything completely different to some things we already know, that it mustn't be important. It was 'only' a new language...There is a big surprise in the neuroleadership field though, and it's the huge impact it has on people when they reframe their mental functioning into neuroscience terms. It's like that metaphor of seeing parts of an animal then suddenly getting the whole elephant...it's hard to go back once you have. As Jeffrey Schwartz said to me recently, 'There is a machine inside of you, but you are not a machine. However the only way to not be a machine is by being very aware of how that machine works.'

I will be back in the the US and Europe after some quiet time in Sydney. Have started work on a new book on the brain, which I am writing with Dr Jeffrey Schwartz. (Click to view a great video interview with Jeff.) Jeff and I co-wrote the 'Neuroscience of Leadership' article for strategy+business magazine. You can listen to a free webinar of the two of us here.

I am really enjoying reading new books and papers, and interviewing scientists for the book. I am even more convinced than ever that we have all the science we need for a cohesive explanation of most of our challenging situations both personally and in the workplace. These explanations provide great tools for changing our own brains and better getting along with others. I have been learning a lot about the importance of choice, the impact of status, the nature of our automatic functioning, how fragile working memory really is, and how we have a limited capacity to inhibit impulses, amongst other very cool things. It's all starting to tie together.

If you are interested in exploring some recent insights from neuroscience with me in person, I am running a one day event in Los Angeles on November 15 and in Sydney on December 5.

There's also a range of new audio files online now that you can download free:
• A summary of the 2007 NeuroLeadership Summit
• An event called 'Coaching with the brain in mind'
• A summary of how AIG got a 17:1 return on investment on a coaching program, including
interviews with AIG executives.

If you haven't seen it yet, there's a new section on building a coaching culture that outlines some new case studies and research around bringing brain-based coaching into large organizations to change cultures.

Please enjoy any new connections that I might help generate through all this!

David