There’s no shortage of ideas and literature on the subject of leadership. From books to blogs to the advice of the gurus, it’s hard to avoid the glut of theories and philosophies about what it takes to be an effective leader. But taken altogether, a clear pattern emerges: This extensive catalogue of literature has evolved slowly over the last century, often presenting a lagging view backward rather than a much-needed leading view forward articulating the skills leaders will need in the future and how we will get there.

1. How leaders think has a direct impact on the results they get. With the constant
change that occurs naturally in our working environment - both internally and
externally - we need to adapt quickly and effectively. Even though we know that on an
intellectual level, there’s “something” that gets in our way. What is it and how do we
deal with it? Ann Herrmann-Nehdi explains it’s all in our heads.
by ANNHERRMANN-NEHDI
Leadershipinthe21st
Century:
Brains3.0
RealizingLeadership.com

2. Leadership in the 21st
Century: Brains 3.0 by Ann Herrmann-Nehdi
The fundamental meaning of
leadership has not changed in all of
recorded history… We have tweaked
the meaning of leadership a little bit,
thus moving from dictatorial to more
participative styles, but the essence
has remained basically unchanged
for centuries.
~ Mitch McCrimmon
There’s no shortage of ideas and literature
on the subject of leadership. From books to
blogs to the advice of the gurus, it’s hard to
avoid the glut of theories and philosophies
about what it takes to be an effective
leader. But taken altogether, a clear pattern
emerges: This extensive catalogue of
literature has evolved slowly over the last
century, often presenting a lagging view
backward rather than a much-needed
leading view forward articulating the skills
leaders will need in the future and how we
will get there.
Consider how recent economic volatility,
technological transformation and other
external factors are reverberating through
the business environment:
• New technologies are accelerating
information transfer around the
globe anytime, anywhere, without
boundaries, breaking down barriers and
democratizing the power of information.
• Western countries continue to shift
toward knowledge work and service
industries and away from more
traditional manufacturing.
• Rapid growth in BRIC countries (Brazil,
Russia, India and China) is redefining the
“second world” as a strong contender in
the global economic marketplace.
• The velocity of change across
industries and countries is creating
an unprecedented need for strategic
thinking and tolerance for ambiguity at
all levels of management and leadership.
• Increasingly complex and changing
demographics are requiring new
levels of global dexterity, agility and
sophistication in leaders.
The fact is, the world around us is evolving
faster and faster. The volatile, uncertain,
complex and ambiguous (VUCA) nature
of today’s business environment means
speed - specifically, the need to move
rapidly, shift attention and think in
short increments - has become more
critical than ever. And through all of this
unpredictability and chaos, leaders still
have to manage the day-to-day while
they keep their eye on the future and
think strategically. No wonder then that
leadership agility, the ability for leaders to
“handle any curve ball thrown their way,” is
receiving so much attention today.
RealizingLeadership.com
Issue 2622

3. Leadership in the 21st
Century: Brains 3.0 by Ann Herrmann-NehdiRealizingLeadership.com
There has also been a shift in power -
from administration to management to
leadership to network (see image) - which
has occurred alongside an expanding
definition of what it means to be a leader.
No longer “one who’s in charge or in
command of others,” being a leader today
encompasses a much broader framework
extending far beyond previous limits of
only the most senior of leaders. As a result,
it’s not just those at the “top” who have
to be able to deal with these challenges.
The Evolution of Power The new environment is placing a burden
on leaders at all levels to be more agile,
adaptive and innovative than ever before.
Now more than ever, success requires new
kinds of thinking that will allow leaders to:
• deconstruct complexities to take
advantage of the right resources for the
situation
• take control of their mental processes
and embrace ambiguity
• shift their perspective to look at
problems, tasks and people in a new light
But most of us underestimate just how
difficult it really is to think in new ways.
When leaders approach a new situation
with their habitual thinking, they severely
limit their ability to generate new ideas or
solutions. If our thought patterns continue

4. to be processed by our brains using the
same neural pathways as in the past, our
ability to be agile leaders and lead in
different ways will not evolve to meet the
new demands of the situation. Leading
in new ways requires new connections
and processes in the brain, breaking our
existing patterns.
Our “mental maps” play a significant role
in how we behave, respond and adapt. As
David Rock and Jeffrey Schwartz describe
in their article, Neuroscience of Leadership,
changing our thinking and our way of
being is difficult to do because it literally
requires us to change our brains.
So while most agree the world around
us is requiring a different and changing
approach to leadership, one that
emphasizes leadership agility, that change
will present challenges.
How Mindsets Get in the Way of Change
Most of us have tried to change not only
our own mindsets but other minds as well.
My guess is more often than not, we’ve
failed. Here’s a closer look at why that is:
1. Mindsets are part of our “cognitive
unconscious.”
Mindsets are part of our “cognitive
unconscious,” where we’ve already formed
mental maps that become our point of
reference as we look at the world. Most of
the time we’re not aware of these mental
maps or the impact they have.
Our mental maps are literally built from
our experiences in life. As we process
information, most often unconsciously,
we are looking for patterns and scanning
the mental maps we have already formed
neuronally based on our experience.
Sometimes our maps are helpful and
sometimes they are not.
Think about when you travel to a new
place and try to make change in a currency
you’re not used to, or you encounter
differences in dress, road signs, habits,
customs, food, etc. I was recently reminded
when I shifted to a new phone with a
new operating system. Since most of my
interaction happens without consciously
thinking about it, I was clicking when I was
supposed to swipe. My “mental operating
system” - and its associated habits, reflexes
and assumptions - had to change with the
new phone operating system.
This is a great example of how our existing
mental maps are often of little help and
even create confusion because we’re
challenged by some subtle differences in a
system we think we already know. In fact,
our experience and knowledge actually
stops us from looking around for other
options and ideas that might help us solve
those challenges.
Leadership in the 21st
Century: Brains 3.0 by Ann Herrmann-NehdiRealizingLeadership.com
Issue 2624

5. Most change requires that leaders
consciously become aware of and then
challenge their mental maps and form new
connections in the brain. This takes energy
and motivation. When leaders understand
how their mental maps are working and
how they have created their mindsets, they
are better prepared to adapt and respond
to the change that is constantly occurring
around them.
2. Mindsets are firmly engrained in the
brain.
Mindsets are reinforced by the structure
and very nature of the brain itself. The
brain is where we go to process any new
information and it is the single body
organ that is the central “computer”
for all our mental processing. Each and
every brain is as unique and different
as a thumbprint. We literally build that
print throughout the course of our lives,
creating and fine-tuning our own unique
style and building our mindset.
Our maps lead the brain to fill in gaps we
might initially see and then quickly move
on, but often with incomplete information.
This is helpful when the map matches
the situation; it’s very efficient that we
don’t have to sit and think about how to
start the car every day. However, it also
means we’re constantly filling in the blanks
unconsciously based on prior experience.
For example, look at the diagram below,
and read what you see:
What did you say? Ice cream is good?
Groups around the globe who have
completed this exercise are 100 percent
sure that’s what it says. However, when
you reveal the entire phrase you see: JGF
GPFAM JS CQQD. (Don’t believe me? Write
those letters on a piece of paper and cover
up the lower portion of them, and you’ll
see how it works.)
Leadership in the 21st
Century: Brains 3.0 by Ann Herrmann-NehdiRealizingLeadership.com

6. All of our experiences pre-program what
we see and how we think or feel about
a given topic or model. Years ago, a
participant in a program stood up during
a segment and declared: “Excuse me, I do
not DO metaphors.” It was clear this person
was shutting down his own mental process
because of a previous experience.
Think of the times that has happened
to you, your team or your organization.
When we engage others in a change
process we are asking them to challenge
their previous mental maps and make
new neural connections in their brains.
This is no easy task!
The challenge leaders face is how to
become more conscious of how we
develop, practice and maintain our brains
- because change is part of the design.
As Dr. Michael Merzenich, an expert on
the brain’s ability to change (known as
plasticity), has pointed out: “The brain was
constructed to change.”
3. Isolated facts have little effect on
mindsets.
When 90 percent of heart patients don’t
take action after their doctor instructs
them about changing their lifestyle in
order to prolong their life, then you know
something is wrong.
Leadership in the 21st
Century: Brains 3.0 by Ann Herrmann-NehdiRealizingLeadership.com
Issue 2626

7. What is it about our brains that resists
change so tenaciously? Why do we fight
even what we know to be in our vital
interests? It’s simple: Our thinking relies on
our mental maps and mindsets, not facts.
Neuroscience tells us that our mindsets,
the long-term concepts that structure
the way we think, are instantiated in
the synapses of the brain. Dr. Merzenich
found in his research that habits actually
showed up on MRI scans. In studying
flute players, he found their brains had
developed larger representational areas
that control the fingers, tongue and
lips. He could see that flute playing had
physically changed the brain.
That’s why someone telling you a few facts
isn’t going to change your mindset. If the
facts don’t fit with your mindset and the
mental maps that form them and are wired
into your synapses, they get rejected.
Leaders are just like flute players. They have
developed thinking habits or mindsets that
have changed their brains. The cumulative
weight of knowledge and experience and
the mental maps that have formed make
it very hard to change their approach to
leadership.
This also helps us understand why it is
that even though companies continue
to spend the lion’s share of their training
investments on leadership development,
most believe their organizations still lack
the level of leadership agility necessary to
lead them successfully into the future. A
recent Forbes article estimated that only 10
percent of today’s leaders have the level of
agility necessary to face today’s challenges.
As McKinsey & Co. pointed out,
underestimating mindsets is one of the key
reasons leadership development programs
fail. Mindset is particularly critical because
it affects how leaders frame the world, how
they look at things.
A leader’s mindset is their mental default,
providing the brain the easiest path to
follow in a noisy and distracting world. It
takes energy to override your mindset. You
have to redefine what is most important, as
well as how and in what direction to shift
your thinking. Think of the last time you
needed to change your approach. Were
you successful? What did it take?
Most leaders today struggle to keep up
with yesterday’s definition of what it meant
to lead, let alone shifting their thinking
Leadership in the 21st
Century: Brains 3.0 by Ann Herrmann-NehdiRealizingLeadership.com
Issue 26 27

8. to what is required today - agility. But
no leader, at any level, has the luxury of
being single-minded any more. As agility
becomes the defining competency for
successful leadership going forward, all
leaders have to be able to consciously
engage all of their mental resources - to be
results-oriented and performance driven
and engagement focused and strategically
directed.
Building Leadership Agility:
A Whole Brain® Approach
How do you build leadership agility? An
obvious place to start is by understanding
the leader’s default mindset and its
impact by looking at thinking preferences
across the Whole Brain® Thinking Model.
The metaphoric model has been highly
validated over the last 30-plus years
with the more than two million leaders
and managers worldwide who have
completed the Herrmann Brain Dominance
Instrument® (HBDI®).
Developed from research conducted by
my father, Ned Herrmann, while he was
head of Management Education at GE
(Crotonville), the model is divided into
four separate quadrants of thinking, each
one different and equal in importance
- and all of which are available to every
leader. Whole Brain® Thinking, which is
the ability to access and tap into each of
our specialized modes throughout the
Leadership in the 21st
Century: Brains 3.0 by Ann Herrmann-NehdiRealizingLeadership.com
brain system, is a requirement of agile
leadership, irrespective of the preferred
mindset of the leader.
In the Whole Brain® Model, a more logical,
analytic, quantitative and bottom-line
approach to leadership appears in the
Upper Left A quadrant. The more planned,
organized, detailed and sequential
leadership style is processed in the Lower
Left B quadrant. Synthesizing, integrating,
holistic and intuitive approaches reside
in the leader’s Upper Right D quadrant.
Finally, a leader’s interpersonal, emotional,
kinesthetic and feeling modes are
associated with the Lower Right C
quadrant.
The Whole Brain® Model
Whole Brain® and the four-color, four-quadrant graphic
is a trademark of Herrmann Global.
Issue 2628

9. If you think of each of these quadrants as
four different leaders, imagine how each
might approach the leadership process. Or
better yet, imagine one leader embracing
all four of these approaches.
In fact, the role of CEO, a classic leadership
position, is a great example of one that
requires Whole Brain® Thinking by design
because it necessitates working with and
leading a wide range of functions, from
finance to strategy to people issues to
execution. Our research on the thinking
preference data of CEOs across the globe
has demonstrated that CEOs have a high
percentage of the rare (less than 3 percent
of all profiles) Whole Brain® profile - one
that has preferences equally distributed
across all four quadrants.
The demand for more agile, Whole Brain®
Thinking is no longer limited to the
CEO ranks of leadership. Our world now
requires the agile, adaptive and integrative
thinking that spans all four quadrants
across the leadership ranks of the
organization. In a business environment
where change comes fast and VUCA is
the reality, we no longer have the luxury
to relegate ourselves to “limited brain
bandwidth.”
We know that by actively engaging
all of the brain’s capacities from both
hemispheres and all four quadrants, we
have a larger “playing field” from which
to draw our thinking - there is more cross-
fertilization between neural synapses,
providing the opportunity for new
connections to form.
Leadership in the 21st
Century: Brains 3.0 by Ann Herrmann-NehdiRealizingLeadership.com
Issue 26 29

10. It’s time to redefine leadership for a
continually changing world. The effective
leader of the future will be a “thought
leader,” a highly skilled thinker who is able
to situationally access the different thinking
preferences across the Whole Brain®
Model as required for any given challenge,
irrespective of the person’s natural
preferences. Recent informal analysis of
current leadership programs in global
Fortune 200 companies shows that we are
woefully behind in the development of
such leaders.
So what does a “thought leader” look like?
The model below shows a Whole Brain®
Map of the critical leadership elements for
21st
century leaders:
Leadership in the 21st
Century: Brains 3.0 by Ann Herrmann-NehdiRealizingLeadership.com
Issue 2630

11. Here’s a personal development checklist
for stretching your thinking to build the
leadership agility necessary to lead yourself
and others:
• Get Real: Discover your natural thinking
preferences so you can begin to
recognize your mindset and own the
thinking changes you need to make.
• Pick your Battles: Diagnose how and
when to change your thinking in order
to break out of your greatest mindset
traps. Think back to the feedback you
have received across your career: What
mindsets have others noted? When and
how did those get in your way?
• Pay Attention: Become excruciatingly
conscious of your thinking so you
can recognize when you need to
apply “thinking agility” - the ability to
consciously shift your thinking when the
situation requires it - to become more
deliberate about how you use your
mental resources.
• Leverage Others’ Thinking: As you
lead your team and emerging leaders,
learn to leverage what they bring to the
table that complements your mindset.
As you ask them to develop and grow,
focus most on those areas that will have
the greatest impact as they stretch their
thinking to take on new challenges -
and recognize the energy, effort and
motivation that will require of them.
Leadership in the 21st
Century: Brains 3.0 by Ann Herrmann-NehdiRealizingLeadership.com
• Be Diverse by Design: Intentionally
bring in others who provide the thinking
diversity and perspectives necessary to
tackle complex problems and come up
with more innovative solutions, even if
they make you uncomfortable.
• Begin at the End: Build your strategic
mindset, even in the midst of so much
ambiguity, by focusing your thinking on
the end goal and promoting a culture of
experimentation.
• Be Whole: To get the best results and
greatest agility, apply a Whole Brain®
approach to your role job, including
how you set goals, manage change,
engage people and create your vision of
the future. RL
Ann Herrmann-Nehdi is CEO
of Herrmann International, the
company that pioneered the
Whole Brain® Thinking
approach and the Herrmann
Brain Dominance Instrument®
(HBDI®) assessment. She works
with leaders, teams and consultants around the
world to help them develop the thinking
diversity, leadership agility and innovative
mindsets to grow strong organizations. Follow
Ann on Twitter @AnnHerrmann.
Issue 26 31