Promoting Psychosocial and Cognitive Wellness in the Workplace: The Emerging Neuroscience of Leadership Development

Abstract

While traditional management science has been criticized for being slow to adopt findings from psychological research, an emerging movement seeks to incorporate cognitive and neuroscience research and perspectives into workplace applications and leadership development. In the present chapter, social, cognitive, and affective neuroscience findings are discussed in the context of topics related to leadership development. These topics include workplace stress and stress management, emotional regulation, social interaction, and emotional intelligence. I then review efforts to understand and promote cognitive health in the workplace with a particular focus on organizational skills, decision making, reasoning, and work complexity. These topics are subsequently considered in the context of executive coaching interventions and future directions that may bolster research and applications in this area.