Looking back over the years, clearly one of the most influential books impacting the CIMBA Leadership System has been Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz's Brain Lock. The 4-step approach Dr. Schwartz outlines in the book formed an integral part of our early coaching intervention strategy. Not surprisingly, Brain Lock was very well received, evidenced by the several languages into which it has been translated. Both the approach and accompanying message Dr. Schwartz conveyed were so powerful that he made the decision to write a far more encompassing, less scientific version taking into account the considerable neuroscience and social psychology research that has been conducted since he wrote Brain Lock in 1996. Written together with Dr. Rebecca Gladding (a clinical instructor and attending psychiatrist at the UCLA Stewart and Lynda Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital and the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior), Dr. Schwartz's new book is entitled: You Are Not Your Brain: the 4-Step Solution for Changing Bad Habits, Ending Unhealthy Thinking, and Taking Control of Your Life. For purposes of full disclosure, Jeff has been cooperating with CIMBA for several years. With Jeff's odd working hours I have become accustomed to receiving a call from him any time during what should be his day or night (typically engendered by one of Jeff's many insights). It has been a highly-productive partnership. Sharing insights and perspectives with Jeff has certainly benefited the CIMBA Leadership System and, more importantly, the students who have embraced it. In a very similar sense, Brain Lock was about building a system; You Are Not Your Brain is about providing individuals with the ability to embrace it.

Let's consider the 4-step model Jeff developed more than 10 years ago and that we have used here at CIMBA for nearly 5 years:

The Four Steps

Step 1: Relabel - Identify your deceptive brain messages and the uncomfortable sensations; call them what they really are;

Step 2: Reframe - Change your perception of the importance of the destructive brain messages; say why these thoughts, urges and impulses keep bothering you: they are false brain messages (It's not ME, it's just my BRAIN!);

Step 3: Refocus - Direct your attention toward an activity or mental process that is wholesome and productive - even while the false and deceptive urges, thoughts, impulses and sensations are still present and bothering you; and,

Step 4: Revalue - Clearly see the thoughts, urges and impulses for what they are, simply sensations caused by deceptive brain messages that are not true and that have little to no value (they are something to dismiss, not focus on).

To get a sense of the process, an individual encounters a situation that generates a "deceptive brain message" (in the form of a thought, and urge or a desire). Generally speaking, that thought, urge, or desire takes the form of "I'm not good enough" or "I will be rejected" or "I have no control" or "I need to be perfect," to provide just a few illustrations.  Recent graduates of CIMBA will recognize "deceptive brain messages" as "self-limiting beliefs" or, more recently, "red-zone emotions". Others may recognize this notion as proffered by their coaches or other authors as "cognitive distortions," "automatic thoughts," "negative thinking," or "scripts".

This deceptive brain message and the emotion sensations accompanying it typically manifests itself in some physical or emotional way that may be unique to the person; for example, a sense of anxiety, a pit in the stomach, a rapid heart rate, excessive anger, or fatigue. In an effort to be relieved of this emotional sensation, we often undertake short-term, temporary responses such as avoidance, over-thinking or analyzing, alcohol, eating, arguing or other activity that will very likely take us away from our true goals and values.  Unfortunately, the pleasure the brain gains from this strategy serves to habituate the response.  According to the authors: "For example, if you constantly avoid a situation, person, or location because of how uncomfortable it makes you feel, you are acting in a habitual way.  The same goes for engaging in repetitive thoughts caused by deceptive brain messages that do not lead to a solution or any forward progress."

In Brain Lock, Jeff took a considerably more scientific approach in developing his argument for this 4-step approach to personal and intentional change (I should also add, sustainable). In addition, Brain Lock was largely based on his experiences in applying his approach to individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder. In his new book, Jeff takes a decidedly broader approach. Clearly benefiting from the experiences of Dr. Gladding, the book lays out a very concise methodology for understanding and applying Jeff's 4-step approach. Aside from some differences in language, those of you who have gone through the CIMBA Leadership System recently will find considerable familiarity with the presented methodology. For example, in this book Jeff refers to a person's "Wise Advocate" - "that aspect of your attentive mind that can see the bigger picture, including your inherent worth, capabilities, and accomplishments"-as opposed to the "Impartial Spectator" originally introduced to us by Jeff (from Adam Smith's The Theory of Moral Sentiments). Consistent with the title of the book, Jeff suggests "It's not ME, it's just my BRAIN" in Step Two: Reframe. At CIMBA, students have encouraged to undertake such reappraise through "It's not me, it's my ILB (Impeding Leadership Behavior)."

In addition, Jeff has moved away from the very clinical, "medical school," language of neuroscience in this book and adapted a slightly more "lay" approach to descriptions of the brain and its various functions. This is a trend we are seeing in more and more neuroscience applications (see, for example, Professor Richard Daft's The Elephant and The Executive, presented here some months ago) and, in my opinion, this trend both allows for broader applications and demonstrates a growing confidence in the use of this rapidly growing body of science. Still, you will see the important influences of a number of leading neuroscientists we have recognized in this column and who have certainly had an impact on the CIMBA Leadership System - Professors Eisenberger, Lieberman, and Ochsner with strong hints from Baumeister, Gross, Price, Tang and others.  In this sense, Jeff's new work strongly supports the notion that the future belongs to those developmental entrepreneurs who are able to assemble in a unified whole all of the incredible research that is flowing from neuroscience as a consequence of the rapid developments in brain-imaging technology we are experiencing just in the last decade. I remain steadfast in my belief that neuroscience and its applications to leadership and personal development hold the key to the fundamental concern of everyone in this field: sustainability of change.

Without question the most important contribution of the book is the well-crafted, methodology that Jeff and Dr. Gladding lay out to implement Jeff's 4-step approach. In setting out the methodology, the authors use illustrations from their broad and impressive experience bases. The result is a very clear and concise process for understanding and implementing the approach. I am very confident that students who have experienced the CIMBA Leadership System will find the book to be a good resource for continuing their personal development journeys. Individuals who do not have such familiarity will find the explanation to be more than sufficient to provide necessary guidance.

Finally, let me emphasize the practical importance of this book by providing a recent CIMBA illustration. As most graduates of the CIMBA MBA and undergraduate programs know, we have been involved in working to understand the leadership or personal development process for more than 15 years. Aided by a very curious scientific community that has most recently been armed with rapidly advancing brain-imaging technology, much of what we thought was true in the past has proven to be quite different when viewed from the perspective that technology provides. While we never doubted the importance of mindfulness at CIMBA, it was not until the last two or three years that we realized that it was at the very foundation of a successful, sustainable, personal development journey. Over the past two years, we have witnessed the consequences of students becoming more mindful through the use of our SUUNTO performance improvement instruments.   Coupled with our emotion explication seminars, students are considerably more aware of themselves (and others) both physically and emotionally, and thus their movements, sensations, impulses, and automatic tendencies.  In this sense, the SUUNTO technology has significantly enhanced student mindfulness and provided a significant, substantial foundation for Step One: Relabeling in Jeff's 4-Step Approach. Our new, more sophisticated technology offers even greater promise towards achieving our ultimate goal. It is our intention to implement the new system in September. I am looking forward to reporting its consequences in future ABCs.