top

The Neuroscience of Chai: Overcoming My Own Obstinance

Why do we sometimes take risks to learn, but other times we’re so determined to stay “right”? Zooming into the neurobiology, in a sense we have a tug-of-war between the striatum and the amygdala, between opportunity and risk. It’s just like trying Chai for the first time on the steamy streets of Kuala Lumpur.

Read More

Integrated Emotions: Feelings Are Allies

What if all our feelings had value? Many people see emotions as “good” or “bad” — which leaves us in a constant state of internal struggle against our own feelings. Here’s a framework to rethink feelings as valuable signals about what’s important.

Read More

The Way You Are

Is there a way to be unconditionally loving, and also to hold high expectations? As parents, can we love our kids “as they are” AND help them be better?

Read More

Are We Wired for Empathy?

The neuroscience of empathy is fascinating and offers practical lessons for leadership and life. Our brains are wired for social connection through Mirror Neurons, which cause us to experience what we perceive.

Read More

Physiology of Emotion, Exercise, and Change

I was recently talking to a group about the fact that we can choose how we feel. “But didn’t you say emotions are an automatic biological response?”   Yes, in fact, I did… but don’t we have choice about our biology?  I remember years ago interviewing neurobiologist Debra Niehoff about the way some people seemed […]

Read More

Leaders Worth Following

What makes a leader into someone worth following? Is it their title? Their actions? Or maybe something more — something that is both rational and emotional.

Read More