

Your Brain at Work
Neuroleadership Institute
In organizations around the world, leaders are facing a deluge of urgent issues: a crisis in employee engagement, the need to make workforces more diverse, and the challenge of making workplaces feel human in an era of increasing dependence on technology and remote communication.
At the NeuroLeadership Institute, we believe brain science can help provide solutions. Join us on Your Brain At Work, the official podcast of the NeuroLeadership Institute — where top researchers and thought leaders share breakthroughs in brain science and industry leaders reveal the strategies behind their success.
By helping them understand how the brain works, we equip leaders with the tools to transform their organizations — building new habits and changing how people work, communicate, and make decisions. Combining research and practice, brain science and business leadership, Your Brain at Work explores how insights from the lab can provide solutions that work across industries and at any scale.
Season 1 guests include broadcast journalist Soledad O’Brien; Dean Carter, Director of Human Resources, Finance, Legal, Shared Services at Patagonia; Deb Bubb, Vice President of Learning and Inclusion at IBM; and FD Wilder, Senior Vice President of Go-To-Market Strategy and Innovation at Procter & Gamble.
Your Brain At Work. Helping make organizations more human.
At the NeuroLeadership Institute, we believe brain science can help provide solutions. Join us on Your Brain At Work, the official podcast of the NeuroLeadership Institute — where top researchers and thought leaders share breakthroughs in brain science and industry leaders reveal the strategies behind their success.
By helping them understand how the brain works, we equip leaders with the tools to transform their organizations — building new habits and changing how people work, communicate, and make decisions. Combining research and practice, brain science and business leadership, Your Brain at Work explores how insights from the lab can provide solutions that work across industries and at any scale.
Season 1 guests include broadcast journalist Soledad O’Brien; Dean Carter, Director of Human Resources, Finance, Legal, Shared Services at Patagonia; Deb Bubb, Vice President of Learning and Inclusion at IBM; and FD Wilder, Senior Vice President of Go-To-Market Strategy and Innovation at Procter & Gamble.
Your Brain At Work. Helping make organizations more human.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Apr 21, 2022 • 47min
SEEDS of Change: The Path to Breaking Bias
"If you have a brain, you have bias."
That phrase is more than a tagline for the NeuroLeadership Institute's model for overcoming bias at scale. It's also a far-reaching truth with profound implications about who we are and how we navigate the world.
In this episode of Your Brain at Work Live, Dr. David Rock (Co-Founder and CEO, NLI) joins Evynn McFalls (VP Marketing, NLI) to reveal the origins of the SEEDS bias mitigation model and how we put that science to work—transforming thousands of leaders and teams over the past decade.
You've never heard the story quite like this.
Catch the insights and get a sneak peek at what's next in conquering unconscious bias.

Apr 21, 2022 • 48min
Workplace Woes and Wins: Women’s History Month Wrap Up
In this episode, we’re joined by two special guests: Gwen Young (COO, The Women Business Collaborative) and you—by way of the perspectives you shared in our community surveys!
We sat down with Shelby Wilburn (Community Manager and Host, NLI) and Joy VerPlanck, DET (Senior Insights Strategist, NeuroLeadership Institute) to surface intersectional insights about gender equity around the world.
The panel explored how unconscious bias manifests itself in our workplace relationships and talent pipelines, and dug deep into the complicated truths about how our factors like gender, race and identity can impact our career journeys. We were also beyond grateful to investigate questions and amplify the stories of viewers like you.

Apr 21, 2022 • 45min
Hybrid Work Update: Navigating the Pitfalls of "Back to the Office"
As the weather is getting warmer and COVID-19 cases are low in the US, many leaders are itching to get people back into the office. But should they?
In this episode, we'll share the latest data and insights on the remote, hybrid, or in-office situation. If your organization is on the path to going hybrid or back to the office full-time, watch as we follow the science on how to do it well.
Could there be downstream impacts on employee recruitment and retention? How might a return to office impact equity and inclusion? How might going back affect women in the workforce, or parents that have acclimated to working from home? We touch on these topics, answer your burning questions, and more.

Apr 21, 2022 • 51min
Dissecting Downtime: The Impact of Gender on Rest
Over the past few years, we've learned that downtime is a necessity for avoiding burnout. But there are several factors that make prioritizing our downtime difficult. Key areas that don’t get enough focus are deeply held unconscious biases about gender, race, and identity that affect us all.
In this episode, we look at how these biases and expectations impact our ability to get the rest we need. We discuss how organizations can create more inclusive cultures and practices that take these unique challenges into consideration.

12 snips
Apr 15, 2022 • 53min
Boeing’s Most Significant Culture Change
Rapid #change at scale is absolutely possible. Sara Bowen, VP of Global #DEI at Boeing, knows this first hand. #Boeing set out to create a culture in which every employee feels safe to speak up and believes that their voice matters.
Two years of hard work culminated in "Seek, Speak, and Listen" Boeing’s new behavior change model that their CHRO recently characterized as the most significant culture effort in the company’s 106-year history. Join us this Friday for an inspiring conversation and a remarkable story.
#SeekSpeakListen #YourBrainAtWork

Apr 15, 2022 • 52min
Insights from the 2022 NeuroLeadership Summit
In this Season 7 Premiere episode, Dr. David Rock and John Edwards recap some of the landmark insights that came out of the 2022 NeuroLeadership Summit in February.
These insights include:
- How to shift from depletive to a regenerative style of managing people
- Why empathy is no longer a nice-to-have but a business imperative
- Why to be an ally you have to have an aversion to inequity
- How rapid change at scale is absolutely possible, and more
If you were able to attend the Summit, this session will help you reflect on your insights and deepen your connections. If you missed the Summit, this session will offer a fantastic overview of the key takeaways and indicate where the world of work and leadership may be going next.

Jan 18, 2022 • 58min
How Adopting a Growth Mindset Transformed Microsoft
Microsoft has undergone a massive culture transformation in recent years with “growth mindset” being the driving force behind every major decision and change they’ve made.
The goal for senior leadership from the outset was to evolve from a culture of “know-it-alls” to a culture of “learn-it-alls.” They sought to enrich how they engaged their 181,000 employees around the world and encourage continuous curiosity, learning, and growth.
This shift in mindset has permeated the organization in so many ways – from business strategies to employee behaviors. It has become integral to Microsoft’s leadership principles, performance practices, allyship efforts, hiring strategies, career conversations, feedback processes, and more.
In this Season 6 finale of Your Brain at Work LIVE, Priya Priyadarshini (General Manager, Employee Career and Development, Microsoft) joins us to share the amazing story of this journey. Learn how leaders at Microsoft were able to create stronger connections between teams through the pandemic and how the organization’s growth mindset translated to bigger impacts on industries and the marketplace.

11 snips
Jan 14, 2022 • 51min
What We Get Wrong About Inclusion

Nov 19, 2021 • 47min
Compassion Wins at War and in the Office
Calls for empathetic leadership are on the rise in organizations. A new survey connects lack of empathy to the reason 54% of people recently quit their jobs. Empathy is a nuanced and often misunderstood term. When actually, compassion is what teams need. Compassion is when one's desire to help becomes an impactful response. It's the difference between telling someone you care and actually showing them.
On this episode, Steve Miska, a retired US Army Colonel & Author shares his experience working with Iraqi interpreters during the war and the unexpected lessons on the value of compassion. Ultimately sharing stories that transcend the battlefield and translate directly into workplace leadership today.

Nov 15, 2021 • 48min
Power and Expectations: The Neuroscience of Group Dynamics
When people work together as a team, there are several “group dynamics” that determine how well they’re able to synergize, make decisions, and get things done. The factors that determine whether a team has a positive (or poor) group dynamic include power, relationships, status, fairness, the ability to put the interests of the group ahead of one's own, and more.How does your organization go through the process of team building? How are you being proactive in creating an inclusive environment that inspires team collaboration?In this episode of Your Brain at Work, Dr. David Rock, Dr. Will Kalkhoff , and Dr. Joy VerPlanck will explore the science of group dynamics. We’ll examine the differences between status and power and analyze how leadership, group composition, expectations, and participation inequities that can impact decision-making and work outcomes.


