[Fan Favorite] Time to Reset: Harnessing the Power of the Brain, with Dr. Julia DiGangi

Jan 7, 2025

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Happy New Year! We always like to kick start the year with a reset - and today's guest will help us get the fresh start we all strive for.

Dr. Julia DiGangi is the author of Energy Rising: The Neuroscience of Leading with Emotional Power. She is a neuropsychologist who works with businesses and entrepreneurs to help them harness their power, and keep their mindset fresh. And for her, great leadership starts when we understand the human brain!

Whether you’re building your company up through growth and innovation or by investing in your culture, being in business often means striving for performance. But is there a science to good leadership? Research in cognitive psychology shows there might be.

In today’s episode, Dr. DiGangi joins our new host Ari Marin to decode the clever machinery of the brain, and unlock new potential! Together, they discuss our cognitive ability to recognize patterns and our natural aversion to uncertainty; they unpack how we can reshape our behaviors to undo fear-based nervous habits; and they reveal that focusing on identity can move organizations towards better cooperation. Dr. DiGangi shares her invaluable research and wealth of knowledge on corporate leadership to help us tap into our brain power.

So tune in with Julia and Ari today, and get ready to adopt a whole new performance mindset.

Highlights:

Understanding how the brain works (3:00)
Anxiety as a reaction to uncertainty (4:37)
Cognitive strategies: why we'd rather choose physical pain (6:05)
Building leadership from the energy of emotion (8:25)
“Working” and “overworking” as different nervous responses (11:34)
Why identity is the best response to uncertainty (12:54)
The emotional math of our professional lives (15:12)
Reframing micromanagement as a fear reaction (16:45)
Recent changes in the conversation around mental health (18:34)
The impact of technology on emotional intelligence (20:28)
The creativity of leadership (22:24)
Speaking the language of emotions (24:11)
“The greatest asset that companies have today is relational intelligence” (26:23)
Staying optimistic for the future of collaboration (29:12)

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If you have questions about the show or topics you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producers, Natalie.Barron@cadencebank.com, Eydie.Pengelly@cadencebank.com, or danielle.kernell@cadencebank.com.