Leadership Habits

The Need

In our critical decision-making moments, we do not usually rise to our own level of expectation. Instead, we reach for old default responses when, what is needed, is fresh insight.

This takes practice so when how do we cram that into our day?

Athletes, performers, military personnel all know that they must deliberately and mindfully practice in order achieve at a high level. Neuroscience now shows us that, as leaders, we also need to train our brains to achieve high performance in our critical moments.

Unfortunately, a lot of leadership training is about learning some new insights, adding a few new things, then, in the crunch moments we revert to our auto-pilot, default way of responding. Our brains are wired this way.

The tragedy from this approach is that in failing to be effective in the critical moments, two things happen:

Firstly, we question our ability to lead because we didn’t act the way we wanted.

Secondly, others question our ability to lead because we didn’t act the way they expected.

7 things to look for in building leadership habits

  1. The program introduces you to the world of practice that becomes habit. This means you can automatically respond in more intentional ways to your next leadership challenge.
  2. The program is designed around small, incremental, sustainable behavioural change that is built through practice. The evidence is abundant.
  3. The keystone practices of the program do not add to your schedule. They take less than a minute. They really are too small to fail. We really can rewire our brains without adding to our schedule.
  4. The program is delivered as a series of short practice-based sessions.
  1. Participants have a Learning Partner to whom they are accountable.
  2. The program’s facilitator is deeply steeped in their own deliberate practice in building beneficial habits.
  3. The program is founded on the current behavioural sciences and neurosciences research regarding sustainable habit-building.

Results

“At the Business Analysts Professional Day Taruni presented a new and refreshing approach for on-the-job stress management. The technology of the micro-practice as a way to renew and reboot during the workday is simple, easy to fit into my tight schedule and takes less than a minute. What’s not to like!"

Katya Orlovskaya, Data Governance Analyst at Cbus Super Fund 2017

"Nurse Managers want both clinical and communication professional development to keep them current and competent. Since April 2014, Taruni has been the speaker we always reach for when it comes to growing the intrapersonal and interpersonal communication skills of our delegates. Taruni rapidly engages delegates, she challenges, and she inspires with content that combines, in fresh and practical ways, the hard data of the neurosciences with emotional intelligence. The outcome for our clients is to feel refreshed, renewed, energised."

Zoe Youl, Event Education Conference Manager, Ausmed Education 2014-19

"Taruni has provided two presentations for our Toyota New Zealand HQ staff. The first was about working effectively with Japanese counterparts. The second presentations focused on practical ways to build moment- to-moment renewal within our work days. Both presentations were closely tied to our business values. Taruni has been the catalyst for us to build further knowledge, information and resources in this tow areas. I highly recommend her services to other’s wishing to connect more effectively with other people, and people from cultural backgrounds different to our own."

Jane Stella, Future People Development, Toyota New Zealand November 2018