Mental Athletes in the Boardroom
By Susanne Rix
In the global stadium or in the boardroom, it is not marks in an MBA that gives the top achievers the winning edge. It is far more complex than can be measured by university professors. It is that elusive quality that communicates with influence, inspires a sense of direction, produces the most innovative solution, predicts most closely future scenarios, and is able to sustain their mental agility in all conditions. It is the ability to use the mind and creative skills most effectively.
We’re pushing the boundaries of our abilities. To do this, we need to use the latest technology and research to hone the skills we have. Just as athletes train in mind/body techniques – the mental athlete needs mind/body training for the boardroom or market “stadium”.
Specific mental strategies can be applied for specific tasks. Brain imaging techniques have provided valuable insights for the mental athlete. For example, during sustained concentration & learning, the type of brain activity is not the same as during moments when creative ideas are generated. For most of us – we leave it to chance that the brain will work in the way we hope it to when the need arises. Yet how many times have you had the great idea or brilliant retort long after the moment has passed?
Consider those moments when you do have those flashes of genius. A moment where you were functioning at your peak - combining your potential resources such that the best of yourself has emerged at levels you previously thought impossible. Those moments when the great idea revealed itself, or the speech went brilliantly, or the negotiations were successful beyond your dreams. In sports psychology it is called “flow” or “the zone”. For everyone it is a similar experience.
Until recently, the predictors of these flashes of insight or flow were elusive. Most people experience them from time to time but admit that they occur largely by chance - and not frequently enough.
The antithesis is those long hours when you know you are functioning below your potential. Those times when you have to read the same item 2 or 3 times before it sinks in; when you are forced to write and re-write before the finished product emerges; when the solution to a complex problem just won't appear; when your memory fails you; when you just can't concentrate.
Between these 2 extremes lies the area of moderate performance where most of us function most of the time.
It is possible to learn to trigger those moments of peak performance - not just occasionally but consistently.
A wide range of complex factors combines to trigger the brain into high levels of effectiveness. By applying recent research into the brain it is possible to combine a number of these factors to trigger the mental athlete’s “flow zone”
For an 8-10 hour mental marathon, much of the time can be wasted in under performance if strategies are not put in place to trigger peak mental functioning. It has been well documented that concentration span wanes after 20 minutes of sustained activity. (Witness your own memory after hearing a one-hour conference presentation – let alone 8 hours). In most organisations today people are pushing beyond the mental decline believing that they are operating at their mental best. In reality they are accomplishing the best they can at 20% of their best.
For the brain to function effectively, it needs fuel. While the brain represents only 2% of body weight, it requires 20% of the available oxygen and 50% of available glucose. Sedentary work results in a reduction of oxygen uptake and over extended periods, a consequent reduction in the ability to concentrate, absorb and recall information. You probably know the symptoms. After several hours of solid concentration, you become mentally fatigued. You search for simple, mechanical tasks that require the minimum concentration. In an attempt to get the brain working you take a lunch break but find you quickly return to the same lack-luster level of concentration.
Aerobic exercise, and meditation are two simple methods of refueling the brain. While these have been promoted largely for their effect on cardiac health, the after effect of 20 minutes of either of these activities include not only a lowering of heart beat and blood pressure, but also an increased flow of oxygen to the brain. All this results in increased energy and improved ability to concentrate for up to 24 hours.
While aerobic exercise will improve thinking, stress will have the opposite effect. A stress reaction will direct oxygen supply away from the cerebral cortex (the thinking part of the brain - the intellectual brain) to the lower brain to activate the physical functions of the flight and fight response. Knowing how to control the stress response and developing stress hardiness are critical to high-level mental performance.
Fueling the brain effectively is one component. Another is directing the thinking process. One recent study of highly creative individuals and those considered “genius” reveals their ability to:
- Create a mental image
- Hold the image in the mind
- Manipulate the image
- Change the image
Einstein was known to have conducted all his experiments in his mind before committing them to paper. The strategy is the same as that used by athletes when using mental rehearsal and visualisation. Mental athletes could well develop the same skills.
Neurologist and Nobel Prize winner Roger Sperry revealed how the two hemispheres of the cerebral cortex essentially operate as two separate brains. The left is required for step-by-step processing, calculations and language. The right is essential for problem solving, decision-making negotiation and interpretation. It is the right brain that sees the overview, draws on non-verbal input and processes multi-factorial information simultaneously to generate new ideas or solutions to complex problems. It is the part of the brain responsible for creative thinking.
Creative thinking results from being in a specific state. Consider for example, when you have your best ideas. Are you hunched over the computer? Locked in debate? Or do they happen when you are mentally disengaged. Standing in the shower? Just before drifting off to sleep? Or other occasions when you are equally ‘switched off”. Studies of the creative process have revealed ways in which this brain state can be intentionally manipulated. You can learn to be more creative at will. You don’t have to wait for the serendipitous moment that may or may not occur.
It is possible to draw on a wide range of findings that have emerged from recent mind-brain research. Further these can be translated into practical strategies that can be applied to improve mental functioning - including learning how to directionalise the brain, becoming stress-hardy, mind mapping, and creating new patterns of thinking.
While science has begun to explore the vast potential of the brain, we are still a long way from complete understanding of mental functioning. It is known that the process is complex; no single contributing factor can be considered in isolation. Any attempt to enhance thinking must employ a wide range of interacting strategies.
Einstein said, the only difference between genius mentality and lay mentality is that a genius uses more of his mind and uses it in a different manner.
As any mental athlete already knows – the leading edge is far more than simply having the information at hand. It is tapping their genius mentality – “the flow zone”
