Status

Status

StatusStatus is about relative importance, “pecking order” and seniority.  Think about a time when you’ve met someone you really admire and look up to.  You may have built them up in your mind.  When you meet them you may experience being tongue tied, not knowing what to say.  Your brain shuts down a bit.  This is what happens when your perceived status is lowered, a threat to your status.

It can be easy to accidentally threaten someone’s sense of status.  It can occur when giving someone advice or instructions, or simply suggesting someone is… Continue reading

Your #1 Asset

#1assetI happened upon some interesting studies regarding how the brain reacts to different situations.  In particular, about our capacity to make decisions, solve problems and collaborate with others.  The information has a profound impact on the performance of a team.  When individuals have a threat response, capacity to perform and reason diminishes and it is increased under a reward response.

Our brain is constantly evaluating whether a situation is a threat or a reward.  In social settings (working with others) there are five areas of human experience:  status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness and fairness.  These… Continue reading