Courage to Lead - Insights for Nonprofit Leaders

Leadership and our Distracted Brains

As I get older and think about my hopes for a long, healthy lifespan, I think more and more about what I put in my body. The old axiom that "you are what you eat" seems more relevant each year.

But to be honest, the anatomical region I'm most worried about as I age is my brain.

Do you find that you are able to focus as well as you used to? How's your short-term memory? I used to think any brain deterioration I experienced simply went with age, but a book I read this summer left me wondering -- Nicholas Carr's The Shallows - What the Internet is Doing to our Brains.

Carr begins by documenting one of the most monumental and encouraging set of scientific learnings in recent decades - about the plasticity of the adult brain. Plasticity has to do with the malleability of the brain, the ability to form new neural circuits, to adapt, to change as needed.

Scientists used to believe, as Carr writes, that "our neurons would connect into circuits during childhood, when our brains were malleable, and as we reached maturity the circuitry would become fixed." Once we hit our twenties, our brain development was thought to be complete and that there was no regeneration, only the slow process of decay through our adult years.

New science confirms that this theory could not be further from the truth! Carr says more recent research shows that "our neurons are always breaking old connections and forming new ones, and brand new nerve cells are always being created." And though the plasticity of our brains diminishes with age, it never goes away altogether.

For someone who is involved with adult development (and who is ostensibly an adult himself!), this is wonderful news. And it matches with my own experience. Some of the most inspiring role models in my own life are people who have continued to learn and adapt and to be transformed for the better throughout their adult lives.

But...there's a shadow side to this brain plasticity, and Carr's book documents it in a pretty ominous fashion. Yes our adult brains can adapt and grow and learn for the better, but they can also adapt in ways that may not serve us. And as we've all plowed forward into the world of always-available technology, our malleable brains are changing once again.

A simple example in my life of how my brain seems to be adapting to my use of technology is my short-term memory. As I think of things I want to remember, I use my smart phone to email myself. In essence, I've outsourced my short-term memory to technology - which is great, because I forget fewer things.

But I've also noticed a sharp decline in my own ability to retain something in my short-term memory when I need to. The research discussed in Carr's book makes clear that in terms of different brain capacities, "use it or lose it" - so it would make sense that I would be quickly losing that capacity.

And the most fundamental area Carr discusses in his book is our diminishing ability to focus. The Internet, with all its wonderful capabilities, is a distraction machine. Hyperlinks, online ads, email and texting alerts, multitasking opportunities - all get in the way of our ability to focus and concentrate on a single task.

I don't know about you, but the constant availability of technology and online connection is an ever-present temptation in my life. Have you ever checked your email in a meeting? Do you sometimes multi-task while on important phone conversations? Do you respond reflexively like Pavlov's dog when you hear the ring associated with a new text or email? All this is not happening by accident. Our brains are being conditioned this way.

But what does all this have to do with leadership?

Well, if we are constantly distracted by minutiae and interruptions, and we rarely allow ourselves downtime and reflection, what happens to our most important and deepest human faculties - things like wisdom, compassion, integrity and courage?

The Director of USC's Brain and Creativity Institute, Antonio Damasio, explains that "the higher emotions emerge from neural processes that are inherently slow." His research shows that the more distracted we become, "the less able we are to experience the subtlest, most distinctively human forms of empathy, compassion and other emotions."

And their research thus far backs this up. As a member of the USC team has written, "for some kinds of thoughts, especially moral decision-making about other people's social and psychological situations, we need to allow for adequate time and reflection."

Other studies have showed that spending time in nature seems to be restorative to our brain functioning, attentiveness and memory. The theory is that "when people aren't being bombarded by external stimuli, their brains can, in effect, relax.... The resulting state of contemplativeness strengthens their ability to control their mind."

And what does this mean to those of us who are leaders? Well, a lot of people depend on us. It seems like it is incumbent upon us to understand how our brains work, and to determine what practices help us be the wisest, most effective, most courageous leaders we can be. And we can be more aware of the development needs of our staffs, and support them in increasing their own level of self-knowledge.

Our Courage to Lead program was built to support busy leaders get to a deeper, more reflective place. At our retreats, we slow down together, and consciously build spaces that are both contemplative and focused. We weed out distractions as best as we can, and we always try to spend some time in nature.

As the wonderful writer Wayne Muller has noted, "our core human values, the deepest and best of who we are - honesty, courage, kindness, civility, wisdom, compassion - require the nourishment of time and care, if we are to grow and flourish." That quality of time and care is what our Courage to Lead retreats are all about. It is all part of what it takes to come to deeper understandings of ourselves, to be really present to others, and to cultivate ourselves to be the best leaders we can be.

So in this modern technological age, maybe we need to be at least as concerned with what we allow into our brains as with what we put into our mouths. As leaders in our organizations, communities and families, a lot of people are counting on us. _________________________________________________________

Ken Saxon has facilitated groups for 20 years. Following a successful business career as an entrepreneur, he put his skills to work in the nonprofit sector as a Board leader, facilitator and coach. It was there that he was inspired to meet and work with many nonprofit leaders - heroic people doing critical work. Yet he was shocked at how little was being invested in them. Ken founded Courage to Lead, a leadership and renewal program, to build support and community around nonprofit executive leaders so they can do their best work and live their best lives.

Ken is a graduate of Stanford's Graduate School of Business and Princeton University, and he has completed the facilitator preparation program provided by the Center for Courage & Renewal. He serves on a number of nonprofit boards, including the Santa Barbara Foundation, the Eleos Foundation and the Orfalea Fund.

Prior to his leadership at APCH, Zeichner co-founded and helmed the nationally acclaimed Inside Out Community Arts, a nonprofit serving youth throughout Los Angeles via theater and arts-based after school programming.