Benefiting at work from Brain Based Insights

College lectures have yet to cultivate entrepreneurial brains – and it shows as Americans backslide in competitive global markets. For one thing, we stall mentally ... because traditional lectures work against the human brain. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Dr. Robyn McMaster and I plan to spark vibrant graduate roundtables by rejuvenating curiosity about how humans harness brainpower for entrepreneurial leadership.

We’ve just created a Master level Brain Based course to teach this fall for Entrepreneurial Leaders at the University of Rochester‘s Center for Lifelong Learning. The course opens with the question ... What does it take to become an entrepreneurial learder? In response we'll write a book together - titled... Brain Based Learning and Leading for Entrepeneurs. I see a lively roundtable where talented people speak and feel heard, and where all voices shine through the lines in a well written book. It's my way of cultivating entrepreneurial brains. How do you do so?

Mark Henricks, a writer at Entrepreneur.com reminds us of 5 winning facts about the entrepreneur’s brain that can make or break a business.

1. Your brain is both your biggest constraint and biggest competitive advantage. Depending on how you manage it - your brain buries your chance for success … or catapults you to a win. For instance, drugs such as Prozac's and others help people to lift moods, improve memory, ease learning and impact entrepreneurial leadership. New anti-sleep drugs can actually help you to focus better. But what about drugs that lift your brian to heights and then drop it to its doom? Research pumps out amazing facts daily - about both states.

2. Brain research is bigger business that most people realize – Those who attend colleges that ignore this trend and stick to business as usual may be shortchanged when entrepreneurial opportunities open.  “Annual federal neuroscience funding still tops $4 billion. And private sources including VCs are getting into the act, funding startups to commercialize drugs and procedures for modifying our brains and the way they work.”

3. Many top entrepreneurs also show signs of ADD. Daniel G. Amen, M.D., a brain researcher and director of Amen Clinics showcases several unique aspects of entrepreneurial brains. "These are people who take risks, need people to help them stay organized, don't like working for other people, have a lot of energy and are good at multitasking."

4. Potential exists to enhance memory for all of us. Researcher Tim Tully studied the gene that controls memory and learning and then developed a drug that may help humans learn faster and remember better. Mice with age-related memory problems regained the memory of much younger, alert mice, Tully discovered.

5. Entrepreneurs help improve bottom line benefits to any business by making work a brain-enriching place to be. Entrepreneurs benefit business when leaders offer employees more opportunities to teach one another and when features such as music enhance a workplace. A brain listening to music is one that enhances productivity. “University of California, Irvine, researchers found that people who listened to Mozart before taking a pattern-recognition test improved their scores 62 percent after two days of practice. Those who spent the time in silence improved just 14 percent.”

And there’s more …. Take this survey to answer the question … How are entrepreneurial brains being cultivated where you work?  How is yours…?