Your Brain at Work

Amy Schultz, Director of Organizational Effectiveness & Learning at DTE Energy, and Rebecca Port, VP of Talent at Netflix, represent two essential services during a crisis—perhaps in their own way. In this episode, Amy and Rebecca touch on their approach to giving employees a sense of certainty, autonomy, and relatedness in the way leaders focus their teams.

Tracy Keogh, CHRO at HP, and Dean Carter, Head of Finance, Legal, and HR at Patagonia, are dealing with different challenges at their organizations these days. But what you’ll hear from each leader echoes the same point: During a crisis, it’s people—not business goals or numbers—that need to come first.

As bonus material we are sharing some of the most insightful moments from the 2019 NeuroLeadership Summit, which we’re calling the "Summit Rewind" series.

In this episode you’ll hear a bite from Douglas Rushkoff, author, speaker, and opening keynote presenter in the first session of the conference: Value the Human. To discuss Douglas’ remarks, our host, Chris Weller is joined by NLI’s Co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer, Lisa Rock.

They discuss what it means to be more human, how Patagonia is embracing the idea, and whether all companies can be held to the same standard.

Modern working life is overrun with distractions, obligations, and burnout. Arianna Huffington, author and CEO of Thrive Global, has made it her mission to infuse more humanity into how work gets done. In this week’s episode, Arianna sits down with Dr. David Rock, NLI Co-Founder and CEO, to explore the problem of being “always on” and offer leaders strategies to make their own organizations more human.

The most dangerous sound in any organization is silence. And yet, for many of us, speaking up is one of the hardest things to do at work. In this week’s episode, Assistant Professor of Management and Diversity at the Free University of Berlin Dr. Mona Weiss discusses her research around “employee voice.” She explains why personality alone can’t explain why some people keep quiet and why others make themselves heard, and offers research-backed tips to get everyone more engaged.

No one wants to be told they need fixing, and yet this is the impression so many diversity and inclusion programs leave on employees. According to Randall Tucker, Chief Inclusion Officer at Mastercard, the smarter way to gain people’s buy-in is to frame D&I as an extension of an organization’s business goals. That way, Randall says, leaders can help people see D&I as a tool for building their skills, not correcting their flaws.

It’s among the most heart-stopping questions a person can receive at work: Can I give you some feedback? But research shows it doesn’t have to be so dread-inducing. Done right, feedback can spark transformation. On this week’s episode, LIz Friedman, Senior Director of Global Performance & Development at Microsoft, shares how America’s most valuable company is learning to make self-improvement an active effort through smarter feedback.

Lynda Gratton believes the human experience is fundamentally shifting. It’s moving away from the three-stage life of education, career, and retirement, and instead moving into what she calls a “multi-stage life,” whereby people learn, work, and relax over many decades, well into old age. On this episode, discover how Lynda sees the future playing out in discussion with NLI’s Co-Founder and CEO, Dr. David Rock.

No one likes to feel like a number. And yet, so many organizations use rigid, ratings-based approaches for tracking employees’ performance. Rob Ollander-Krane, Director of Talent Planning and Performance at Gap Inc., has for years decided to take his teams in a different direction — namely, by killing performance ratings. In this episode, discover how Rob’s bold decision has ushered in a brand-new world of work.

To help employees learn new skills, IBM knows those people need to feel connected to their work. Which is why for the past few years, Deb Bubb, IBM’s Chief Leadership and Learning Officer, has sought to create more tight-knit communities within the company. That means more women. More people of color. And more cohesion overall. Listen in as Deb shares her progress and philosophies in adapting to this reskilling revolution.

Our host Chris Weller is joined by Deb Bubb (CLO of IBM) and David Rock (Neuroleadership Institute).