What does ‘the Brain’ mean to me?

Every individual comes across as unique from the others in more ways than

one. What makes all of us so distinct from each other has a lot to do with all that we

have learnt in our lives up to the present day. All this learning and the experiences of

the past are reflected in our behaviour and are displayed in our personality. This is the

personality or image that people associate with every individual. What and how every

individual learns throughout his life is what I understand as the Brain in the concept of

leadership. The reason why I have such an abstract concept is that this has a lot to do

with understanding the character of every individual (including myself) and how

human beings behave.

Digressing for a while, I would like to mention about a short seminar that I had

attended on the subject called ontology. Ontology, as I was made to understand,

relates to the study of being of human beings. In simple words I can explain ontology

as the study and understanding of why we as humans act and behave in the way that

we do. And if I were to put this concept alongside the Brain, I can see a very strong

correlation between the two.

Going back to the concept of the Brain, I would like to add that this addresses

the issue of how a leader can be more effective and successful in dealing with other

people and more importantly dealing with himself. What the Brain refers to is the

whole process of learning the manner in which humans think and act, and how leaders

react and manage their teams to be able to identify the exact point of concern of every

member in the team. This enables the leader to not only approach the problem with

the most optimum solution in an efficient style but also increases his acceptance and

trust in the group.

An additional connotation that can be attached to the Brain is ‘change’. I

believe that many times a leader is required to bring about a change in the

organisation and in the people around him. This creates an image of being a more

efficient leader. However, it should not be taken for granted that every effective

leader will be able to bring about an effective change in his environment. To be able to

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do this, the leader has to understand very clearly how the human mind functions and

how people think given certain situations. In learning to do so, the leader has an

advantage over the group in being able to know exactly how each group member

needs to be approached. Along with the change mentioned above, a leader is also

expected to help the group or team become more successful in every mission with the

aim of achieving the overall vision of the organisation.

Moving on to a more personal area, the leader will also understand his

leadership style and character. The Brain practically means the mind of every individual

and if an individual is able to understand how his mind works then he is in a much

better position of controlling the outcome of every thought process he undergoes.

Every individual will be much more clear as to the kind of personality he possesses and

this will help him work towards his actual goals as far as personal development is

concerned. Without understanding one’s own self an individual is at great risk of

drifting away from his personal goals and thereby portrays an ineffective image of his

self. He is very likely to carry a false identity of himself, which results in an incorrect

way of handling people and problems. And no matter how successful that person

might have been, it does not necessarily make him a good and effective leader.

Most of us have had a major portion of our learning from observation. This

learning becomes so engrained over time that it forms part of our actions even without

giving much thought to it. This is what we can also refer to as the reptile brain in

action. A similar concept was also brought out by Kjeld Fredens during the class

lecture. He mentioned the concept of ‘I’ and ‘Me’ and how we perceive ourselves vis-

à-vis how people perceive us as individuals. Every individual becomes so accustomed

to the perception of himself that he does not realise that others look at him differently.

How the Brain comes into the picture here is that every individual needs to recognise

both these sides i.e. the ‘I’ and the ‘Me’, and this will help the individual express his

true character and thereby be more successful in dealing with problem situations.

Moreover, the concept of the Whole Brain (4 quadrants) can act as a great tool

in understanding the personality and the character of individuals. It is a very simple

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and practical way of charting out an individual’s character. It may also prove to be

helpful in understanding team members so as to be more direct in dealing with them

based on their characteristics as per the quadrant to which they belong. The Brain tells

us to adopt this thinking into the style in which we deal with problems and people so

that we can be more valuable leaders.

Finally, I would like to sum up the meaning of the Brain as the development of

an individual, such that he is able to recognise himself and his style of leadership and is

able to bring about a change in himself and in his environment through this

understanding. The subject of the Brain does not relate to how the human brain

functions, but it relates to how one can come to value the human mind and be able to

control it.

How can I use ‘the Brain’ in my life?

The concept of the Whole Brain has really been an eye-opener and in some way

I have already started to apply the Brain in my personal life. I am an optimistic person

and flexible enough to permit changes in my personality and behaviour. In the class

exercise I had come up with Blue as my primary colour and Green as my secondary

colour. The idea that I had was that as far as the Right Brain (Red and Yellow colours)

was concerned not much development would be seen here. However, when I did the

home assignment I was pretty surprised to see the results.

Although the results were not alarmingly different from my earlier

assumptions, they were significantly different in the sense that I had a much stronger

Red quadrant than what I had expected of myself. The final results of the home

assignment showed that my primary colour was Green. Where the secondary colour

was concerned, I had an equal score on the blue and red quadrants. More

importantly, as compared to the score on my primary colour (Green) the difference

was only two. My estimate about the Yellow quadrant turned out to be correct but

again here, the surprising part came out in the home assignment, where I scored

nothing but a big zero.

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Reflecting back upon the outcome of the Whole Brain experience I have now

acquired a much better understanding of myself. I have been able to associate certain

aspects of my character to the way in which I behave or react in certain situations.

Had it not been for the understanding of the Brain, I would have either not understood

why I behave or respond to situations in the way that I do or I would not have even

bothered to think about that particular situation. And now it feels like some sort of a

great discovery to observe and understand my mind and how I behave, and I have to

accept that it is extremely involving.

I feel that combined with the learning of Reflective Leadership and Cognitive

Coaching, the Brain can be used as a very potent tool to observe and look at myself

from a completely different angle. With this I can also recognize myself from how

others perceive me. I can realise the kind of picture that I portray to others and the

type of image that might be formed in the minds of those around me. This literally

provides me with the skills and the ability to understand what people think about me

and how I can change and modify my outlook to match their perceptions. Considering

this, it is almost unimaginable how effective I can be in dealing with people even if they

are complete strangers.

I will be working at practicing this aspect of understanding my mind in order to

bring out the best in me. I now know what my qualities are and what characterises me

as per the four quadrants and I have the ability to look at myself from a different

perspective. I have realised that I cannot be present in all four quadrants and that I

will always have one primary quadrant that I can relate to. However, I believe that I

have the opportunity to improve in other areas where I am lacking, especially in the

Yellow quadrant. Instead of feeling dejected with a zero score there I can look at

developing in that area and in the process move closer to the centre of the whole

circle (the brain). This will not make me proficient in all the quadrants (and I think that

would be rarely found), but I will surely be a more balanced person after having moved

from the outer fringes of the brain in Green quadrant towards more to the centre. I

have a long way to go and there is a wide scope of expanding in this direction before I

can fully integrate this theory as my second nature.

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I am very strongly looking at utilising this concept in being able to present

myself in the exact way that I am. It would be kind of turning inside-out. People should

see what I really am and that I have only one side. Putting it down in a more academic

way, I would do away with the ‘I’ and keep only the ‘Me’, especially as far as my image

is concerned. I would use this to build up more trust in the people who I deal with and

in turn strengthen their confidence in me. I will use it to handle situations at a

personal as well as a professional level so that my team members or subordinates are

absolutely comfortable talking to me about almost anything that they would like to.

I would become a more approachable and a more sociable person than what I

am today if I am able to imbibe the Brain as a part of me. Some may argue that this

does not necessarily lead to better leadership, but I would like to bring out the fact in

support of my considerations above that wherever we go, we will always be dealing

with other human beings. Be it any role that one is in; leader, manager, CEO, etc; one

will always remain in association with other human beings and there can be no better

way of dealing with humans than having a strong understanding of how the human

mind works. Possessing and developing the ability to understand the human mind can

lead to a wonderfully successful and satisfied life in any role that an individual might

assume throughout his life. I cannot say when exactly I will reach this stage that I have

conceptualized. Maybe I will be 50 or 60 years old by then or on the other hand maybe

I will get to it in a very short time. But what I can be sure of is that this journey has

started and like the old saying goes “Well begun is half done”; with the encouraging

start that I feel I have achieved, I am almost half way there. Ultimately, I will realise

the final results only when I get there, but this whole process of discovery itself is so

exciting and revealing that it becomes difficult for anyone to stop embarking on it.

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