Building Leaders in the 21st Century – an article by Ann Herrmann-Nehdi
While the fundamental meaning of leadership has not altered significantly in all of recorded history, the world around us continues to change, and the significant changes that had begun several years ago have now been accelerated by the GFC.
What does it mean for today’s – and tomorrow’s – leaders at all levels? This is a topic I discussed in a recent article, 'Building Leaders in the 21st Century: Brains 3.0.' and will be exploring further in a forthcoming book on leadership.
This article is intended to provoke your thinking: What do you believe the evolving world around us will demand of our leaders? How do you define the "new normal," and what will the impact be on leadership requirements? What about the implications of younger generations, social learning and networks, and radical new organisational models?
In the last decade, we have seen the
definition of leader evolve somewhat from "One who is in charge or in command
of others" to a much broader framework extending far beyond previous limits to
only the most senior of leaders.
The effective leader of the future will
be a "thought leader," a highly skilled thinker that is able to situationally
access the different thinking styles across the Whole Brain® Model required for
any given challenge, as needed, irrespective of their natural preferences.
Is your Brain Full? Whole brain tips to help 'spring clean' your brain
Research on learning has shown that we need to clear some space to allow for new learning to occur. "Much of what we learn in a day, we don’t really need to remember," Chiara Cirelli, of the Center for Sleep and Consciousness says. "If you’ve used up all the space, you can’t learn more before you clean out the junk that is filling up your brain."
Many of us have experienced the feeling of "my brain is full." It happens even faster on a day when we are sleep deprived. There is a reason for that: Once again, sleep is one critical ingredient to our ability to refresh and renew our "learning space." A full brain actually prevents people from sleeping, which just perpetuates the cycle.
Here are a few whole brain tips for some mental "spring cleaning?"
Take a “brain dump” break once a day or at least one a week. Depending on your preference, it can be in the evening after a full day or in the morning to get organised, or both. Just writing stuff down that is floating in your head can allow you to let it go and help move it onto long-term memory. It is even better if you keep a running priority list that you can review and update. (Whole Brain® Model “B quadrant” tip)
Power up by taking a mini-walk, run or mental breather. Often the “noise” in our heads is the same information cycling around again and again. Just taking a five-minute physical break will send blood flow to your brain, and that’s often enough to flush out the clutter and allow you to refocus. (Whole Brain® Model “C quadrant” tip)
Leverage technology. Use recorders, smartphones or your gadget of choice to capture a recurring thought for processing later or for filing in your brain dump list. (Whole Brain® Model “A quadrant” tip)
Treat your brain to some escape. Daydream, take a powernap or listen to some music to calm your thinking and give it a rest. It does not take much to shift your brain state. (Whole Brain® Model “D quadrant” tip)
Banish Anti-Creativity Thinking
The Harvard Business Review blog recently identified 14 ways to stifle creative and innovative thinking in this tongue-in-cheek video.
Creative thinking is a Whole Brain® process, and given the right tools and techniques, everyone has the ability to contribute to the organisation’s creative output. Where will your next breakthrough or game-changing idea come from? Visit our website to find out more about creative thinking.
The new HBDI Profile Package – available this month
The new HBDI Package booklet will be available from the end of April and we encourage everyone to start using the new HBDI package as soon as possible. If you are a Certified Practitioner you should have already received your sample copy in the mail.
What’s changed?
Now one booklet with 4 tabbed sections, updated 4-color style and graphics, changes and additions to the content. To find out more download the flyers which include helpful facilitation tips for Certified Practitioners. If you have any questions about the new HBDI® Package please give us a call.
The inclusiveness of Whole Brain Technology – Certifying Visually Impaired Participants
We recently ran a Certification Workshop in India and had the privilege of Certifying a truly inspiring individual, Madhu Sharma.
Madhu has been totally blind from birth. An L&D Facilitator for IBM-Daksh, she has achieved so much in the world of commerce that she was recently given an official state award by the Indian President.
Madhu was able to attend and fully participate in the Herrmann Certification workshop, despite her visual impairment.
She completed all of her pre-work (perhaps one of the few participants to do every ounce of it!) which in her case meant reading both the Red and Green Participant manuals prior to the workshop. These were sent in a format that Madhu could more easily run through her text reader-to-voice software. Madhu used a range of ‘enabling’ technologies to assist her learning, for example, a keystroke to voice laptop to capture what was being said by the facilitator.
Madhu described the Certification workshop as "simply amazing". All the other participants rated the workshop as excellent confirming that the large number of instructional design/delivery changes did not impact negatively on their own learning and enjoyment.
When world’s collide: How to deal with the differing demands of your personal and professional lives.
Stay tuned for our next Webinar - 'Happy Holidays'.
Herrmann Whole Brain Certification in Adelaide and Perth
To meet the growing demand and enquiry for Herrmann Certification Workshops in the South Australian and Western Australia regions we are happy to announce upcoming Herrmann Certification Workshops. This is an ideal opportunity for participants in these regions to attend a local Herrmann Certification workshop so don’t miss out.
Adelaide, 15th – 18th June 2010 Perth, 20th – 23rd July 2010
Visit Herrmann at this year’s AHRI Event – 10 - 11 May
Come along and say hello to the Herrmann team at this year’s AHRI event – the largest event for HR and people management in the Asia Pacific Region. We will be showcasing all of our latest offerings, new products and the new HBDI Package. There are also free exhibition seminars, giveaways and of course a great chance to network.
It’s free to come along but you need to register online to attend. You can do this by clicking on this link. http://www.convention.ahri.com.au/visit
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