Although many coaching methods and tools are widely used, how they work remains a mystery. Also, as business leaders and coaches, we should always ask ourselves if there are more effective ways of supporting our peers, teams, and the individuals we are responsible for.

That’s where neuroscience comes in. Neuroscience can be highly useful for daily coaching practice, as the discipline provides insights into how our brains work and how we think, feel, and behave. This knowledge can help business coaches better understand their clients and more effectively guide them toward achieving the desired outcomes.

That’s why I sat down for a thought-provoking interview with Dr. Med. Annette Ehlert-Gamm, a neurologist, psychotherapist, and business coach. In our conversation, we discussed what business coaches can learn from neuroscience, the connection between this exciting discipline and delivering outcomes for coachees, and how this developing field can help develop a coaching culture within organizations.

What Is Neuroscience and Why Is It so Relevant Today?

Neuroscience is the study of the complex interaction of cerebral and nervous structures with each other and with other bodily systems and those outside our bodies.

If one thing is for certain, it is that we are controlled by what is going on in our heads. In a time when the examination of one's own conscious thoughts and feelings, personal individualization, and development are booming, it is no surprise that the brain, as the key control organ of our body, naturally receives the greatest attention.

The fact that the brain and nervous system are involved in many aspects of our daily lives - including how we think, feel, and behave - explains why this discipline is so relevant today. Understanding the brain and nervous system can help us better understand and treat a wide range of conditions, including mental illness, neurological disorders, and even addiction. It can also help us improve our cognitive abilities, work performance, and overall well-being.

Additionally, advances in neuroscience are leading to the development of new technologies, such as brain-computer interfaces, that have the potential to transform many aspects of our lives.

What Is the Connection Between Neuroscience, Neuropsychology and Business Coaching?

Our thinking determines our doing and our feelings. Right?

Or is it the other way around, and our feelings determine our thinking as well as our behavior?

Or is it that our actions determine our thoughts and feelings?

Basically, all of these questions and the assumptions they are based on are valid. Whatever matters at any given moment might be a topic with neuroscientific relevance. For example, does our daily breakfast contain sufficient amino acids and unsaturated fatty acids needed for synthesizing neurotransmitters and nerve tissue required for critical biological processes? Traumatic experiences in our past may have caused a deterioration in the production or supply of substances within our limbic system. In the early childhood phase, we may have tried to express desires and needs on a physical level instead of verbally. The plethora of influencing factors is almost limitless and highly individual for every single one of us.

Against the growing desire for personal development and self-improvement, there is a confluence of the related disciplines of neuroscience, neuropsychology, and business coaching to approach the respective settings of an individual from many different perspectives to develop customized concepts for achieving personal goals.

Many Coaches Wonder Whether Their Efforts Are Delivering Outcomes for Clients. How Can Neuroscience Address This Question?

Neuroscience can provide valuable insights and tools that can help coaches better understand the processes underlying their clients' behavior and progress. But as long as the client and the coach do not agree on concrete goals that can also serve as benchmarks against which the success of the coaching effort can be determined, the impact of the business coaching effort will remain unclear.

Nevertheless, we can assume a specific type of ‘positive automatism’ in terms of personal development, growth, and change triggered by the coaching efforts. Coaching is a learning process similar to language acquisition; every new insight helps advance to the next stage. You can compare coaching to the pollination process with coaching-induced insights forcing a rethink, a redefined positioning, shifts in our perception and the way we experience situations, and opening up new perspectives for coachees.

This process is accompanied by neuroplastic remodeling, i.e., physical changes within the brain. These changes can be made visible through radiological and imaging examinations. Admittedly, one would need a before-and-after comparison, just as one might think of measuring specific neurotransmitter levels in the cerebrospinal fluid, the so-called neural fluid.

From the perspective of a business coach, working with such a process must seem excessive and, therefore, rather academic. So, if coaches recognize a change in their coachees, in that they act and think in more daring and freeways and with more conviction, they can think of these changes as unmistakable signs of the effectiveness of their coaching.

How Can Neuroscience Help Develop a Culture of Business Coaching Within Organisations?

Understanding the neurological basis of human emotions, cognition, and decision-making can help organizations develop a culture of coaching in several ways. Knowing how the brain works, for example, developing an understanding of the daily or monthly rhythm of cerebral hormone and transmitter metabolism, can be an invaluable asset. That way, confidence levels, as well as the ability to concentrate, can be proactively supported, whereas the risks and fallout of motivational lows can be mitigated. Also, neuroscience research has shown that the brain is highly responsive to positive reinforcement and that positive experiences can lead to changes in brain structure and function. This means that organizations that provide a positive and supportive coaching environment, where employees are recognized and rewarded for their efforts, can potentially enhance their employees' brain function and performance.

What Are the 5 Facts Every Business Coach Needs to Know About Neuroscience?

There are several key insights from neuroscience that business coaches should be aware of. First of all, although metabolic processes are basically the same for everyone, every person is different, and everybody’s thinking is different. Understanding that is a key requirement when it comes to coaching clients.

Here are some additional insights to consider:

• Your brain’s metabolism follows the circadian rhythm: Studies demonstrate that we feel most pessimistic at around 4 p.m. and around 4 a.m., and we typically feel most optimistic late mornings and early evenings. Many of my dear and distinguished colleagues repeatedly report very successful coaching sessions that happen shortly before noon.

• Your ‘sleep persona’ matters: Another important consideration for coaches is what type of sleeper they're dealing with. Is the coachee an early bird or a night owl? Estimates say that one in 10 people we interact with are not designed to get up early. This, of course, will significantly impact performance and our capacity to, for example, process information throughout the day. Unfortunately, coachees’ sleep hygiene is rarely taken into account when considering the likelihood of success of a coaching session, although it is of considerable importance. Coaches shouldn’t attempt to work with an early riser after 7 p.m. or a biorhythmic night owl before 9 a.m.

• Differentiate between optimists and pessimists: It will be immensely helpful to identify whether you’re coaching an optimist or a pessimist. Optimists more readily believe in their own success, and that typically translates into achieving desired outcomes faster compared to coaching pessimists. The good news is, however, that pessimists can become optimists.

• Learning takes time for coaching outcomes: It is important to know that there are neurobiologically induced delays in learning, which can affect the visible outcome, change, and possible success of coaching. Our structures in thought and feeling, grown over the years, must literally be destroyed and rebuilt, and the larger the project, the longer this phase takes.

• When evaluating outcomes, consider that insights may surface much later: It is beneficial to realize that coaching sessions have short-term and potentially long-term effects. New learnings and insights can form within coachees even years after a coaching process has ended. Inside the brain, through an endless process of coupling and association within a newly designed network of neuronal structures, fresh knowledge may be drawn from previous sessions even after a prolonged time.

In What Ways Can Neuroscience Facilitate Coaching Processes That Focus on Transformation and Change in Individuals?

Leveraging insights from neuroscience can effectively support coaching processes with a focus on transformation and change in several ways. By taking neurobiological basics into account and determining and characterizing a client’s specific way of thinking, coaches can, for example, put together individualized development programs and coach effective interventions to help build higher levels of mental flexibility and adaptability to make the changes necessary to achieve the desired goals.

What Does the Future Hold for Neuroscience?

When it comes to the future of neuroscience as a discipline, it’s tempting to give in to the many new and admittedly alluring technologies. Out of curiosity, I had OpenAI’s ChatGPT answer the questions for this interview, and I must say that I was severely underwhelmed.

The system spits out answers within seconds, but these do not contain any relevant insights beyond logical common sense. The fact that the answers were well-formulated only disguised the fact that they lacked substance. This makes these systems seem more competent than they are and may tempt less reflective people to apply them in a variety of situations—but even the smartest AI-enabled technologies will not replace actual expertise.

Overall, there are so many things we still need to learn about the nervous system, its functions, and its disorders. So, today, we still find ourselves in a situation where the unknowns far outweigh the already existing body of sound scientific knowledge when it comes to neuroscience. Yet the many technological aids we are using more and more each day to do the plastic, associative, and creative thinking for us have led to the fact that our human brains shrank compared to cavemen.

On the more positive side, I am convinced that neuroscience will become increasingly important for all facets of our lives—our understanding of how we think, feel, and behave or how we learn, change, and grow. My plea, therefore, is not to delegate thinking to however complex or sophisticated machines but to do more of it ourselves - generally, but also in reference to the application of new technologies.

Working within the evolving metaverse is a good example here, as this emerging, immersive virtual world allows highly personalized access to clients or patients. It is a type of rethinking and reimagining yourself in truly innovative ways with only a few limitations. At least theoretically, the metaverse enables a drug-free elevation of one’s consciousness and thinking.

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