#74: Flipping the Switch to Brain On! with Deb Smolensky

Lead the People

Deb Smolensky is a #1 best-selling author, speaker, and award-winning thought leader in the area of human performance at work. She serves as NFP’s Global Well-being and Engagement Practice Leader, and for the past 25 years has worked with hundreds of employers, including Fortune 500 companies, developing strategies, programs and practices that empower employees and leaders to lead healthy, productive lives at work through innovative, meaningful, and highly engaging solutions.

Top 3 Takeaways

1. Mind your brain. We don’t often stop to think about how our brain works, but it’s impossible to realize our full potential without doing so. Commit to learning about brain basics.
2. Beware of the default. We spend a great percentage of our day on autopilot, but we don’t appreciate how our default patterns of thought may actually be inhibiting our success. Make the switch to Brain On! early and often.
3. Take responsibility. You’re not managing robots, you’re managing others’ brains. We must accept that our behaviors and decisions take root in the brain chemistry and functioning of the collective brain around us.

From Our Sponsor

The Predictive Index (PI) is an award-winning talent optimization platform that aligns business strategy with people strategy for optimal business results. More than 60 years of proven science, software, and a curriculum of insightful management workshops make PI the solution for any company looking to design great teams and culture, make objective hiring decisions, foster engagement, and inspire greatness in their people anywhere in the world. More than 10,000 clients and 480+ partners use PI—including Nissan, Citizens Bank, Subway, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Omni Hotels—across 90+ countries. Learn more at predictiveindex.com.

From the Source

“I decided to present to the executive committee on the stress response system. While others in my field at the time I was an accountant started presenting on the general ledgers, the financial journals, and all the leaders really took to it as, ‘Wow, we had no idea.’ I became kind of a stress management expert as I was navigating my career path.”

“I like to think of our brain as the computer. I've always looked at what's going on through the lens of ‘I can control my thoughts and my experiences through my brain.’”

“Over the years—especially through the pandemic—I've come to really believe that everything hinges on our thoughts and emotions.”

“Put whatever you have hardest at the beginning then insert those menial tasks as we go, preserving brain power, which is a finite resource every day.”

“Our brain always approaches things as a threat that's going to kill us until proven innocent. So we always show up Brain Off, and the goal is to quickly show up Brain On as as much as we can.”

“Companies won't survive if they're not mentally strong now, since most of the work is now human work. Soft skills, power skills, whatever you want to call it. That's what's going to start making and driving whether you're successful or not as a business, as a collective brain.”

Connect with Deb

Book: https://www.amazon.com/Brain-Fitness-Strategies-Sharpening-Boosting/dp/1637556640/

Website: https://debsmolensky.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbiesmolensky/