Wiring Wellness: Neuroscience for Team Health & Business Performance

Hello, hello everyone. Welcome to our conference, Wiring Wellness: Neuroscience for Team Health and Business Performance. I'm Claire Hayek, founder of MSP Teambuilding and team culture strategist, and I'll be your host for the next 30 minutes. It's gonna fly by, I guarantee it. And we're really happy to join in for to join us in this morning. And thank you for taking the time. I think it's important for people to connect even though it's virtual. So obviously you all know what today's session is about, but we're gonna talk about and observe mental health awareness and talk about also that awareness this month and how we're gonna talk about mental health awareness and the whole subject, the whole subject of wellbeing in the month of May. And without further ado, I really would like to present Anne-Marie Roy. She's a business coach and an expert in neuroscience and mental health that is currently a candidate for a doctorate in BA. Anne-Marie has over 15 years experience managing teams and advocating for mental health in the corporate setting. So she combines her extensive academic insights and a genuine passion for promoting mental well-being in the workplace. Welcome, welcome, Annemarie.

Well, thank you. I'm so happy to be here today to talk about mental health and how the latest discoveries in neuroscience and neuroplasticity and how the brain is a powerful tool to help us achieve and strive— thrive in workplaces that are really demanding in terms of change. In terms of rhythm. So sometimes it's fast-paced environment, and we've talked a lot about mental health, but we have a long way to go still.

Oh, we do. Oh yes, we do. And you know, it's, it's okay because at least we're doing something about it. I think the more we talk about it, the better, right? Um, and, and there you go. So today we're going to explore the latest research and neuroscience research and how it's related to mental health. and workplace performance. We're also going to be talking about how mental well-being influences business functions and decision-making creativity. And finally, Annemarie is going to share some practical strategies on how, you know, these strategies that can help us manage stress better, right, and improve those team interactions. We will have, I promise, we'll have about 5 minutes for Q&A right before we wrap up. We have a lot to cover in 30 minutes. And we'll also have— just want to mention, we're going to have a giveaway that we'll share with you at the end of the conference, kind of a little incentive for you to stay with us and interact with us in the chat. We'd love to hear from you. And really, we want this to be as interactive as possible because that's how we learn the most, right? So let's just dive right in. But before we start, I'd like to know where you're joining us from today. So please take a couple of seconds to put it in the chat. We'd love to know what's going on, where you're from, et aussi bienvenue à toutes les personnes francophones. On y vient. We choose English because there's a lot of people that don't speak French, et c'est surtout pas pour pénaliser les francophones, mais ça nous ferait plaisir à un moment donné de faire une conférence en français. Anne-Marie aussi. Évidemment, elle est en français.

Avec plaisir. Montréal. Hello. So we have Montreal, Toronto, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Franco. Yes.

Excellent, excellent. So keep them coming. We'd love to know where you're joining us from. And so let's let's get right to it, right, Anne-Marie? So Again, we don't have a lot of time, so let's make the best out of it. Annemarie, could you share how recent neuroscience discoveries are transforming our understanding of workplace stress?

So the major discoveries that neuroscience made— and neuroscience is really the field of research of the nervous system, including the brain, of course, where there is neurons. So those cells are everywhere in our body, which is very exciting because we talk about the brain, we talk about the mind, but it's all over the place. It's all over our body as well. So what we know now, thanks to neuroscience, is that we are not stuck with the brain we inherited when we were born. So we have the ability to change its structure. This was the main or major discovery in neuroscience in the past decade or so. And then we also know now that stress is triggering the amygdala, which is a part of our brain responsible for emotions, processing emotions. And when you trigger it and then, like, again and again and again, it may impair your prefrontal cortex.

Okay.

And that area of the brain is responsible for what? Decision-making, problem-solving. So the amygdala is going to trigger the flight-or-fight response, as we know. And then, it's going to have a stress response. And the stress response can impair your decision-making and problem-solving, which is really annoying when you're a leader.

I can just imagine. Absolutely. This is very interesting. Okay.

Very annoying. So now that we know that, so that's, that's the bad thing. And then you have in the brain what's responsible for its structural change. It's called neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to change itself in reaction to its environment and experiences. And you have bad neuroplasticity and you have positive neuroplasticity. And negative neuroplasticity is going to enhance or you're going to have more symptoms. And I'm not a doctor, but you're going to experience more negative feelings. And negative feelings are leading to what? More stress, more And, and I don't want to go in too deep into the technical stuff here, but bear with me. So if you have—

You'll be surprised. I think a lot of our participants might be very interested in this. And please do put it in the chat to see if, like, you're interested in going scientific on you today. Um, share it with us. Go ahead, Anne-Marie.

Negative neuroplasticity can, can impair your judgment in terms of decision-making, problem-solving, as I said. And then what can happen is also that It's like when you have a lie detector. So your body's going to have reactions such as your heart rate is going to go up. You're going to be more sweaty. You're going to be hot. You're going to have negative body reactions as well.

Okay.

And it's not good for your body because you can have what if you're always under stress and then you're always having body reactions related to stress. You don't sleep well. You have like your heart rate goes up all the time. You might end up with what? Heart disease, maybe in the long term.

Burnout.

Burnout, depression, and anxiety and stress. And you know, the fun thing about this, Claire, is that it's not fun, but we all experience stress. Everyone experiences. We should be experts at it. We should be experts at managing stress because everyone has stress. Well, we aren't. We're still struggling with managing stress and anxiety because of the external events that are happening to us. But the power of the brain lies into how we react to it. So as I said earlier, we are— if we were connected to a lie detector, and we were guilty of something, and then we're being interrogated by a detective, and it— and then we're like, oh no, I'm gonna get caught. And then you have those body reactions that can— that are definitely linked to your brain, right? To your brain reaction, your emotion. Emotions are processed through the brain. So there's no thought that doesn't have an emotion.

Right.

They all have one link to it.

But, but the good news, uh, the optimist here, the good news is that with neuroplasticity, with neuroscience, and with strategies that we can apply, we can— recognizing it, we can turn these around and I guess develop new pathways in the brain to manage it better. And I know you're gonna give us the, the strategies later, but I'm just too excited for like— I'm like, show me please how, because you know, We all go through it. And if nobody's stressed ever, I mean, good for you, but really, right? I mean, it's something that we live with. So let me just throw a little question here to the audience or the people with us. So just put it in the chat, yes or no. Have you recognized signs of stress in your workplace that could benefit from neuroscience-based strategies? I mean, you know, in a nutshell, you do really want to know And are you interested to know on how neuroscience can help manage that stress in a way? Yes or no. Have you recognized signs of stress in your workplace? We want to know, we kind of want to assess on how many of you feel that stress. Do we have more yeses or more nos? And Annemarie, I'll let you kind of read off the chat what we're getting.

Yes. Well, so far, yes. Hopefully they're going to say yes.

In a way, because this wouldn't be useful otherwise.

No, otherwise.

It is kind of a— The approach about knowing how to manage it with neuroscience, I think that the question is kind of gearing towards, because some people don't believe in it and some people are really curious about, don't know much about it. So it's kind of an unknown. So it puts us in a, I don't know, I'm skeptical. I don't know what you're talking about here. Right. And the idea here, when we talk about mental health awareness, is to bring subjects that bring awareness to it and give strategies to to deal with it and help, right? So sometimes also the brain needs to understand something in order to adopt it, right? I mean, I'm not an expert, but I'm assuming so, right?

Yeah.

Thank you for sharing this with us in the chat. Let's move on to the next question, Annemarie. How does mental well-being influence leadership styles and critical functions like decision-making, creativity in these high-pressure environments? In these stressful environments?

Yes. Well, first, before I dive into how it affects or how it has an impact on decision-making and creativity, it is important to say that neuroscience is a field of research. And what I will be pointing in this field of research today is going to be neuroplasticity, which neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to change itself and respond to environment and experiences. Very important. And in there, there is many research, and neuroscience has a lot of tools to enhance our brain functions. And I'll share a couple later. Some of them you're gonna know. But now let's just make sure that we understand how our brain can play against us. And the thing here is that there's a lot of positive things we can do, but let's just look at what's happening when we don't take care of our brain and when our brain works against us.

Right.

And what happens is if you are a lot under stress and you are always in a changing environment and your brain reserve is depleted, you won't have the ability to access the richness or the wealthiness of your brain's information because you have so much to offer in your brain. The thing is, how can you access it when you're under stress? You can't. It's like your neurons are like blindfolded and are like, we just don't know what to do. You don't have access. It's like when you go to the shop and then, or you go to your house and you have a lock with a PIN number and you can't remember your PIN number that you've you've used like 1,000 times. How can I not have access to that 4-digit number that I've used 100 times?

Yes.

And I'm like, what? I can't access it. Can you imagine? You can see that you cannot access it. Okay, so because it's, it's real, you're like, oh no, I can't remember my password that I've chosen 5 minutes ago, right? I, I've used it 100 times. Am I losing my mind? No, your mind is perfect. You just cannot access all the information that you have. So what happens is when you're in a decision-making process or solving a complex problem and you're under stress or you're having anxiety or you're tired, you lack focus, what happens is that you don't have access to everything you have in your own brain. You're not at full potential. And you don't even see it because you're in the action and you're going and you don't even know that you're going to take a decision based on a limited amount of information, biases. And it's going to narrow down your creativity. It's going to prevent you from being the best leader you can be. and being the best leader you can be with your people as well. And sometimes we're going to see the limitations in others before we see it in ourselves. And it's interesting because that's what I'm going to share in the next question. So I'm going to stop talking now. So I just want to—

Very interesting.

It is very interesting.

And I am so— I mean, something you said that really resonates with me, and I don't know if it resonates with everyone here, but specifically that, you know, uh, situation where you're under stress and you can't think straight. And, and something as simple as a decision or, or, or just information you know and you've used all the time, and now you're going blank. You're, why can't I just say, you know— I mean, in all honesty and with, with full transparency, and those, those that know me know I'm very transparent, when I started this stream I was a bit nervous. I always get nervous at the beginning. I mean, it's just who I am. Okay, I get a bit nervous and then I'm all, it's all good, right? I was mumbling. I mean, why was I mumbling talking about stress? I mean, I think that I didn't have access to the natural, I know this information. Why am I just blah, blah, blah, blah, right? So this is extremely— it's like I never really thought about it that way, right? Yeah. And even when you're always getting in the way.

And you notice it. you notice it because you're very mindful, because you're like, I'm mumbling. I know how to do those things. Yes.

What's going on? Right?

Yeah. And it's the same thing for me. Every time I start a conference or I start something, I have that level of stress that I change and my perception of it as excitement, that my brain uses it the right way. And being mindful is also being able to Say it, to express it.

And then, yes, right, the relief after.

The relief after, it's amazing.

Yes.

And then, but you were able to notice it. If you can't notice it and you end up taking decisions without knowing that you don't have access to your full potential, brain potential, this is when it becomes dangerous and you cannot become the best version of the leader you are.

Right, right. And I'm actually curious, I think we have a lot of fans of neuroscience here, but I would also be very curious if some of you are kind of skeptical about this and going, you know, really neuroscience is actually going to help my leadership skills? I mean, everybody talks about leadership, how we can improve them and how we can manage our teams better, but not often, we don't talk often about neuroscience. And I'm actually curious, like, do you really think that if you understand more in detail brain science, that it could revolutionize in a way your leadership skills and team managers? Yes or no? Simple in the chat. We want to just assess where we're at here. Do we have a lot of skepticals? Do we have a lot of please tell me more, I'm applying this tomorrow kind of thing? And yeah, let's take a look quickly at the chat. What do we got, Anne-Marie?

We got yes, 100%. I defy anyone to say no.

I'm like, yeah, no question. Yes, yes.

The brain is the source of everything.

So yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure. Well, thank you. Thank you for all of you for commenting. So let's, let's get to it. This is, this is it. I mean, we're all very excited to learn, to get, you know, for you to share, Anne-Marie, 2 or 3. Again, we don't have a lot of time, but we'll make the most out of it. 2 or 3 practical strategies for applying neuroscience to improve the team management or leadership skills and get rid of that stress? Please help. Right. Okay.

And I'll, you know what, I'll start with an example. Really simple. Something you can do when you see that someone else is really negative in their speech. Okay. So they're talking in a negative way because negativity, negative people is going to influence your energy level, but as well as your neuroplasticity. So, I used to rent an office in a coworking space. So, I had an office there. And every morning, I would walk in and my neighbor would talk to me and she would start her conversation with something like, oh, it's bad weather today again. It's incredible how Quebec is— the weather in Quebec is so bad. so bad. I wish I was somewhere else. Hey, have you seen raining again? And I would be like, hi to you too. Well, you know what I do when it's a rainy day? I cocooning. And then the next day she would go on and she would be— she would, she would storm out of the bathroom and say like, oh, I can't believe they keep calling me when I'm on the bath— I'm in the bathroom. And then— So annoying. People keep Keep calling me when I'm in the bathroom. Like, oh, I always leave my phone in my office if I have to go to the bathroom. That way, I make sure no one is trying to disrupt me when I'm in the bathroom.

Right, right. And then positive, I guess, bringing so positive to it, like looking at it differently.

No, it's reframing.

Reframing.

I love that.

Okay.

So those examples are really important because I'm pretty sure everyone who's listening are like, oh yeah, I have someone in mind. I know someone who does that. So reframing. So especially if you're a leader and if it's an employee who's always on a negative side, well, reframe what they're saying and bring it on the positive side. After 2 weeks, she stopped talking to me and she just said, hello, how are you?

Okay. Right.

But you have to do the work. So you're being mindful.

I'm curious about this because, and I'm, again, I'm going to be very straightforward with this. So when we do something like that, sometimes, and I know I've been, I've been judged with this and, uh, you know, the optimist, oh yes, Claire, always seeing the positive side of things. And so in a way, what this does, it might change their mindset and help them, but What it does, it protects you in a way from those negative vibes or energy or toxic environments. So you're protecting your little bubble in a way, right? Whether people like it or not. Yes.

Yes. 100%. And the thing is, we experience the world through our senses. So what we hear has an impact. It's directly going into our brain. So if something is— if we see, we hear something negative, if you're always watching TV shows that are negative or drama after drama and people dying and it's violent, definitely you're not helping your brain.

Okay.

Okay. So because you're living the emotions, you're going to be in an environment where it's not positive. So those choices are also very important for you. But in a workplace environment, reframing will be your best tool. It's going to be your best tool. And you're going to see you're changing your response, your answer to the person. The person's going to change.

Right.

How long is it going to take? I don't know. It took me 2 weeks with that lady, but you don't know. But the thing is to be consistent. Yeah. There's nothing hard to do. Everything that neuroscience suggests or have proven with research. It's not hard. It's we don't do it because—

I don't think we're conscious enough. And I think the more we practice it, the easier it gets. And it's just like that message going, oh, here I am, here I go again, you know, being more negative or whatever it is that, you know, you want to get rid of. One thing I find that helps me and gets me to snap out of, you know, negative thoughts sometimes, you know, we're stressed and think about things. It's like it's not working or We always have problem with this thing, you know. So I learned this from a coach actually, and she told me just reframe it. I'm using words here, Anne-Marie. You know, I'm a good student. She says, I look forward to such, such thing working, or I look forward to finding and recruiting the perfect employee. I look forward to—

yes.

Everybody's putting on us, right?

That could be the second insight, would be instead of lacking on what you don't have, focusing on the lack, you focus on what you have. So let's say, oh, I'm really tired today. All right, what do you have? You have a bed, you have a chair, you have— you can, you can take a 20-minute nap and you'll be fine. I don't have money. All right, what do you have? Do you have a computer and a phone and you can call someone and make money? Or I don't have the body I want. All right, what do you have? You have legs and arms, and then you can go walk.

I can walk. I can breathe.

I can—

right, the gratitude. Actually, it brings back to the gratitude, right?

It brings back what you have to achieve what you don't have instead of focusing on what you don't have. So that could be the second thing as leader as well. If you're always looking at what you don't have, or even employees are focusing on lack, let's say, okay, all right, so what do we have?

Right.

To make it happen. So that's the second thing. And there's another very interesting tool which is called the daily check-in, which is like a 5-minute stand-up meeting, 15-minute stand-up meeting with the intention of asking everyone in a room, what is your level of stress between 1 to 10? So for example, you have a call, a colleague in the morning. So everyone in the team, all right, And it becomes a habit. What's your level of stress from one to ten? Someone says nine. Is it personal or work related? Work related. All right. How can we help you? Is it personal? Yes. If it's personal, all right. We're gonna cut you some slack today. Obviously, if there's a major issue, you're gonna take it apart. But it it brings awareness of everyone. It's like okay. If that person is a bit more. tense today with me, or they don't answer me, they don't smile, they haven't said hello. But in the meeting in the morning, we know that they are stressed because their kids are going through something, or their parents are having health issues. We're going to cut them some slack. So that gives a lot of a mindfulness. And mindfulness is a powerful tool to generate neuroplasticity, which I said it's very important in having a great cognitive environment and fostering mental health in our own brain. And mental health is not only the absence of illness, it's also being healthy mentally, even if you don't have any illness.

Okay. Okay. Very interesting.

And it's going— being more mindful and in the in the moment present and acknowledging our emotions and our stress level is going to help everyone working together as well. So that level is important.

So if I summarize quickly here, we're ready to wrap up. I can't believe how time flew by. So some of the strategy is changing your mindset, being conscious of it and bringing the positive so you can protect yourself from toxic people maybe around you and maybe help these toxic people indirectly. Second would be, which we call reframing. The second—

Yeah, and it's important because it is how you're going to see it come alive. It's when you reframe it.

Right. And then the second one is recognizing what you already have. And it's like, okay, I might not have this, but I have this and this and that. So the gratitude. And third is taking that moment with your team, if I understand correctly, and assessing, doing a quick assessment, how we're feeling today personally, professionally, In order to be a bit more emotionally intelligent toward each other, a bit more sensitive towards each other, and maybe give ourselves some space with whatever is happening, because we're all human and we feel things. And of course it's related to the brain, right? So I just threw a question here quickly. You know, these are 2 or 3 strategies that Annemarie shared, but there's way more, I'm sure.

Way more.

I'm just curious. Yeah.

Way more. Way more.

But have you, any of you guys implemented any neuroscience-based strategies in your workplace? Yes or no? Whether it's stuff that Anne-Marie mentioned or anything else that you do want to share about, please put it in the chat. We're just curious on how many of you are already applying these, right? This knowledge. And yeah, Anne-Marie, again, I'll let you assess A little bit what we're getting from our participants. Do we have a lot of nos or we have some yeses? Yeah.

So we have empathy and gratitude. Yes, of course. Being grateful for is a powerful— well, actually journaling. So the art of journaling is a very interesting tool for self-reflection and being more mindful. Really, really used by neuroscientists. Right. There is that. So if you talk about yourself in your head, to your head, to your mind, mind to mind, right? In your own head, there is no rapport de force. So so you have to get out of it to make sure that either you write it or you say it out loud, right? So that you have a higher impact, right? On your mental. Discourse.

Discourse, right. So again, time is flying by. In theory, you have about 30 seconds. We're going to stretch it a little bit more if you want to stay with us. But let me just give you some information. If some of you have to go because you have meetings, please drop wellness in the chat if you want to know a bit more about this conference and how you can bring it to your workplace. If you found that this conference brought a lot of value, and I would be happy to send you information, please do reach out on LinkedIn. You know, you know who I am. And basically, if you have any questions, please drop them in the chat. We will take an extra 5 minutes to answer you, and if we miss you, it will be in the comments, uh, so you can come back to this event and actually, uh, read Anne-Marie's answer. Um, and just before we, we go to the chat, uh, I do want to— again, because some of you are leaving or probably drop out of this call— I did, um, promise a giveaway, and, uh, I'm just gonna put it here right on the screen. Excuse me. You can download my book Engage and Mobilize Your Team for free. It's a book that I'm offering to you. Il y a aussi la version en français Engager et Mobiliser Votre Équipe. So if you scan that code and Connor will let you put that also in the chat, the link in the chat, you'll be able to download it and enjoy reading it. It's also available on Audible and Amazon. Some of you want to listen to it. I'm one of those. And quickly, want to just tell you about our next conference on June 12th. with Francis Bichet, a resilience mindset coach, and we're going to share 5 steps to building unstoppable and resilient leaders. Please scan the code to RSVP. We would love to have you again. I'll keep this on screen. And Annemarie, let's go to the chat and take the time to answer some questions.

So I— well, they answered your question first. So they said yes, they have implemented neuroscience-based strategies in their team, in their workplace. And it's interesting because sometimes Sometimes we don't know them under the name of neuroscience-based tools, but there's a lot of people that are using them without knowing it, knowing that they have a positive impact. But most of the time we use it for us and not within the organization. But an organization is also a brain.

Right.

It's also, you have an organizational brain. So it's very interesting because we can take it very far. how neuroplasticity can be, can be created within the organization, not only in the individual, and the cultural changes as well with the concept of epigenetics and epiculture. Anyway, I'm not saying much.

I want to know more. I want to know more. But I just wanted to read a comment from Heather. Thanks, Heather. I love the focus on harnessing the power of neuroscience. I'm a huge fan of mindfulness and being fully present in the moment, as well as reframing.

Let's go.

I also love using techniques to calm the nervous system, like Breathwork. We hear a lot about breathwork scrolling through this here. There's a lot of thank yous. Thank you, guys. And here's a question from Natalie Bonnet. Natalie Bonnet, bonjour. Any advice on how to reframe when a colleague is not only negative but actually mean or discriminatory? Wow, that's that's a great question. And yeah, I would go ahead.

I would reframe. Of course, I would reframe every time the person would be mean or discriminatory. But it goes beyond this. It needs a coaching or a meeting where you address the situation, which is we're in coaching mode more than in neuroscience mode tools here.

Right.

Is the person aware that they are mean or discriminatory? We need to know if the person is aware of it. Is it a stress response?

Right.

Because that's the other thing. Nobody's wired the same way. For one person, it's going to be totally normal to live an event without stress. And for someone else, it's going to be a highly stressful event. And I would probably take this to HR if it's discriminatory as well.

So it's something that we can try to deal with, if I understand correctly.

Yeah.

But when it becomes a bit serious and on the toxicity, it's better to maybe try to understand a little bit where it's coming from. And if we're not comfortable with approaching that person about it, then talk to HR and look into how we can help that person in a way. And, you know, sometimes I know, you know, HR professionals are more seasoned towards dealing with these situations. And a lot of times we feel that some employees don't want to be that person that goes to HR and tells about these things, but you gotta understand that it takes courage to do that. But if you think about it, and Marie, and I don't know if you agree, if you think about it towards, I'm helping that person because they probably don't know what they're doing, right? In a way, then you're kind of bringing something forward that is helping all of you at the workplace. The people that deal with that person, as well as yourself, but also helping the person himself or herself.

Right? Of course. And Natalie, if I may, you can also reframe the person saying you just repeat the question. If they're saying something, you take their word and you're asking like, okay, I don't have an example, but you just rephrase and then you see what they're going to say. Oh no, no, no, that's not what I mean. Or are they going to dive in and keep going. Very interesting. I have a reading to suggest, Don't Split the Difference, written by an FBI negotiator. Very interesting. That could be useful for communication techniques in those kinds of situations as well.

Can you say it again, Conor? If you can type it in the comment, it would be great. What is it, Annemarie?

Don't Split the Difference.

Don't Split the Difference, a book that you would suggest for our participants today. And this is by Chris Voss, if I'm not mistaken, is an FBI negotiator. Okay, very interesting.

Okay. And yeah, repeating what the person said with an interrogation, then see if they're going to continue on that path, or are they going to say, no, no, no, that's not what I meant. Have I heard right? You've said, and so on. And you just you wait.

Okay, I love that. I love that. This is very, very interesting. Thank you so much, uh, Anne-Marie. That was so, uh, that added so much value. I, I mean, it added so much value for myself, and I truly hope that it added value to you, um, and that it's going to help you and your team. So again, uh, please do type Wellness in the, in the comment if you want to know more about this conference, how you can bring it to your workplace. And again, we will see you on, hopefully on June 12th, where we take it further. It's kind of like vibing with the same thing. Yes, better people and enhance our mindset. Okay, it's not neuroscience, but really it is, right? Mindset with Francis Bichet, great, great resilience mindset coach.

Yes, and more neuroplasticity gonna make you more resilient.

Oh, and I'm sure, and I'm sure Francis will have a thing or two to say about this because it's all related. And I honestly really enjoyed this. I hope you enjoyed it too. I don't want to hold you longer. See you soon, Anne-Marie. Always a pleasure. Merci beaucoup tout le monde. C'était tout un plaisir et on aimerait bien vous revoir. Alors à la prochaine. See you soon.