Leaders need to understand that emotional pain is the precise path to emotional power, says DiGangi, a neuropsychologist
Neuropsychologist Dr Julia DiGangi
Dr Julia DiGangi is an expert in the connection between the brain, leadership, and emotion. She is also the author of Energy Rising: The Neuroscience of Leading with Emotional Power. In an interview with Forbes India, she shows leaders how to harness the power of the brain to lead teams better and grow their organisations. Edited excerpts:
Q. What’s the leadership perspective you are trying to build through Energy Rising?
As a neuropsychologist, I wrote Energy Rising to give leaders a step-by-step guide on the neuroscience of building extraordinary teams. At its core, leadership isn’t about the things you are doing. It’s about the energy of who you are being. You can try the most brilliant strategy in the world, but if you’re taking action in the wrong energy, it won’t work. This is because your brain does not run on strategy; it runs on energy.
Very often, leaders come to me, after having spent millions of dollars on new, shiny strategies to motivate or engage their employees. Too often, these efforts fail—not because the strategy was bad—but because the emotional energy was.
Q. How can emotional pain possibly serve as the path to emotional power?