Ashish Raman, a modern day rockstar manager, was famous in his company for setting aggressive deadlines to his team members, stretched targets, promoting healthy competition and constantly pushing his team outside their comfort zone. Working late nights were a norm. He believed in the concept of a hard working employee who was ambitious, passionate about work and ready to burn the midnight oil!
I recently saw a video on the chemical analysis of leadership by biologist Simon Senek . He advocated that the inherent chemistry of an individual reflected in his leadership. Traditionally, leadership has always been understood and taught through many lenses; behavioral, motivational, personality, etc. There are numerous theories that explain the various styles and facets of leadership. Interestingly, good leaders and good teams show a similar slew of good chemicals while bad leaders and consequently bad teams show a slew of undesirable chemicals. The million dollar question is - can the chemical mix of a good leader be replicated?
According to the video, there are five key chemicals that define the leadership profile of an individual - Endorphin, Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin and Cortisol.
Endorphin is best known as the masking physical pain chemical. For instance, a runner feels exhilarated after finishing a marathon despite his body being subjected to acute physical stress. The "runner's high" is primarily due to the release of endorphin. Similarly, endorphin is activated for people in the gymnasium or while undertaking heavy exercises. From a leadership perspective, endorphin is required for the long nights, weekend work and travelling in middle seats in late night flights!
Dopamine, an extremely addictive "achievement" chemical, is activated when something has been accomplished. For instance, dopamine is activated when someone meets their sales targets or ticks off an item from their to-do list. It is a classical explanation for sales employees who are constantly driven to achieve their targets, as on each achievement, dopamine, a happy chemical, is released. On the contrary, dopamine being highly addictive, is associated with alcoholism, smoking and gambling. From a leadership perspective, setting achievable targets with multiple intermediate steps can set up many dopamine releasing points for the team.
Serotonin, the leadership chemical, is activated on feeling proud or a feeling of status. Serotonin, unlike Endorphin and Dopamine, is released for both the giver and the receiver. From a leadership perspective, recognizing someone's performance is a great way to activate serotonin for the leader and for the recipient. A simple gesture like a handwritten note congratulating an employee creates a feel good factor for both the leader and the team member as serotonin is activated. In fact, it is in the leader's interest to look out for good work and recognize performance.
Oxytocin, the empathy chemical, is activated when people experience friendship, trust and kindness. It is also known as the powerhouse chemical as it can suppress the ill effects of other selfish chemicals. From a leadership perspective, it implies spending quality time with their team members and genuinely investing in their careers without expecting anything in return.
Cortisol, the big one, is often the evil chemical. By design, it is activated during times of crisis or stress to keep the body alert to danger. Its implications are that regular functions start underperforming and excessive cortisol leads to an individual not trusting anyone. More than anything else, cortisol reduces the positive impact of serotonin and oxytocin. From a leadership perspective, leaders who expose their teams to long working hours, stretched targets, aggressive timelines inherently create an environment of mistrust, low productivity and adverse morale.
The managerial interpretation in keeping employees safe can have tremendous business benefits!
The chemical analysis of a leader suggests that the primary role of a leader is to make his employees feel safe (high serotonin, high oxytocin, low cortisol). Such a safety net is not restricted to the C-Suite but to every person in the company as the lowest in the hierarchy often end up facing the customer or the supplier. If the employees feel safe and comfortable, they can ward off danger internally, from competition and the market. In addition, when employees feel safe and comfortable in their working environment, they tend to take risks and don't fear failure. Just think of how many blockbuster products of Google have come from outrageous ideas by employees developed during their "non-work" time!
Building an environment of high cortisol, implying high stress, can be extremely counterproductive. Think of a cut throat investment banking or a management consulting firm where employees are trying to outdo each other to move ahead (high cortisol, low serotonin, low oxytocin). Such an environment often leads to high attrition, poor employee morale resulting in poor business performance. Excessive cortisol can also prove detrimental to a person's health! In fact, more and more research in Europe is advocating reducing working hours in service oriented firms to 40 hours a week. Anything more is counterproductive to business besides promoting mistrust, attrition and poor morale.
In conclusion, biology suggests that keeping employees safe and stress free is the primary job of a good leader. While driving teams to stretched deadlines, building healthy competition and pushing employees outside their comfort zone are modern day leadership gospel truths, the underlying foundational biology of following such an approach is highly suspect!
Genuinely treat your people well and they will reward you disproportionately. Treat them like Ashish Raman and you will get poisonous buns in return!
The author, Sandeep Das, is an MBA from IIM Bangalore, a management consultant, the author of "Yours Sarcastically" and a columnistsandeepdas99@gmail.com
Guest Author
The author, Sandeep Das, is an MBA from IIM Bangalore, a management consultant, the author of “Yours Sarcastically” and a columnist.
