THE ART OF DELEGATION – MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK
NEUROLETTER #20 | 13 MAY 2025
FIRST THE GOOD NEWS
Yesterday I was up at Canary Wharf. The sun was at its peak and in every green space I walked past people were laughing, chatting and enjoying just being together. As an article in this week’s FT covered, research conducted by property group JLL found that Gen Z’s are happy returning to the office 3 days per week, whilst later Gen’s are returning around 2 days per week.
This is great news as next week is As humans, social relationships are so important, not least for those learning the etiquette and structure of work, but because our brain health is strengthened by connection and belonging activating important areas for team cohesion and friendships:
· The Prefrontal Cortex, that is heavily involved in decision-making, pro-social behaviours, social reasoning, and is fundamental for performance.
· The Mirror Neuron System support understanding others intentions and actions, the basis of team bonding.
· The Temporoparietal Junction region is activated contributing to understanding others intentions and perspectives, so important for collaboration and conflict resolution.
· The Anterior Cingulate Cortex plays a role in empathy, conflict resolution and adjusting behaviour based on social feedback.
· The Cerebellum with recent research showing helps sequence and predict social behaviours and anticipate reactions.
· And the key emotional hubs of our brains in the Limbic system that detect social signals associated with trust and team building, or a threat so avoidance.( “Functional organization of social perception networks in the human brain” 2023., Severi Santavirta et al. NeuroImage).
Our brains are wonderful at adapting to change at different points in our lives, which goes some way to explain why hybrid working is reshaping our work and brain patterns.
For mental wellbeing all the Gen’s putting down their ‘phones, connecting face to face and enjoying all the fun of sharing, developing points of view, and connecting is brilliant.
How many of your friendships started at work and built on trust from sharing “This happened to me today, what would you have done?”. It defused the day, put difficult situations into perspective, got us out of our ‘worry’ head by teaching us how to understand the process and nuances of work etiquette and the way to grow our future career.
The AI cultural reinvention is going to outpace the changes of the past Industrial Revolutions. Our human relationships, speed of communication and on-demand solutions will need the resilience of our social networks and to be surrounded by others we can trust and feel secure with.
TIME TO THINK
I hugely enjoy giving people white space to think.
My clients, Fortune 500 companies to high-growth firms, refer to me as their superpower, a 1:1 confidant and thinking partner who shows them how to apply evidenced neuroscience into their business.
Your leadership is not in deficit, it’s your brain that could do with a perspective shift as it doesn’t care about your KPI’s, it only cares about your survival.
That’s why my clients relish their “thinking space”, to give them back the cognitive clarity and brain-based insight they need to lead at their best.
In my experience most leaders care passionately about others wellbeing particularly when under extreme pressure, even though their brains are working close to zero from never-ending meetings, decisions, change and shouldering the responsibility of others.
That conscious concern makes you, my superheroes!
There is one phenomenon that I keep working with- leaders who are picking up the tasks from their teams. They get involved because work needs to be presented and time has run out, and it’s not what you’re thinking - these admirable leaders have offered support, given feedback, coached, laid boundaries and new instructions, without success.
Why? Why is this happening? What can be done to address it? Maybe your right they are too generous, or soft? Fudgy in their briefings, exacerbated because their teams are disengaged, experiencing ‘quiet cracking’ fuelled by the current economy and tech seismic leaps, that the Microsoft Work Trend Index highlights. I don't think so!
The important question to ask is “What can be done?”.
To support this question, I have been looking at the issue through a neuroscience-led performance lens. Approaching it not from a systems or capabilities perspective but with the knowledge and expertise of a human brain perspective.
Motivation comes from our brains, so what drives demotivation? Uncertainty? Lack of trust? Fairness? Fear? Lonliness? Loosing autonomy and status? Anything that puts our brains on high alert and shuts down the reward networks.
Now we know that our brains perform well when resilient, but once the dark side feels like it is looming all around, it’s hard to rise back-up like a phoenix.
The skill in understanding mindsets and how to activate the brain regions mentioned at the start of this Neuroletter, become key as an executive or a team navigating a high-stakes, tumble-dryer environment.
As a specialist in applied organisational neuroscience for leadership transformation – that’s happening at warp speed by the way, I have revisited the science and theories, plus my mental-wellbeing and resilience research to identify a starting point before any major leadership or restructuring initiatives take place.
I am delighted to introduce the ‘Brains@Work® Human Intelligence Diagnostic’ designed to find out where your organisation’s brain is thriving, and where it’s shutting down.
It is a neuroscientific performance audit that delivers a low-friction, high-insight entry point for senior leaders or teams pinpointing how their environment is impacting resilience, mental clarity, and performance. This isn’t about personality tests, it’s a real-world, brain-informed insight into how humans’ function under pressure, uncertainty, and change, exactly the conditions our current business environment demands we navigate.
The Brain@Work® Human Intelligence Diagnostic focuses on 4 core brain dimensions, based on applied neuroscience principles:
1. Cognitive Clarity
2. Emotional Regulation
3. Social Connection & Trust
4. Resilience & Adaptability
The diagnostic outcomes include:
🧠 A visual BrainMap® of your team or leadership profile.
🧠 Quick-win behavioural shifts to reduce friction and improve clarity.
🧠 Insights into what’s blocking innovation, engagement, or resilience.
🧠 A strategic view of how to lead in a brain-friendly, AI-integrated world.
If you are a
· Founder, exec, or HR lead feeling decision fatigue or cultural misfires.
· A team navigating change, growth, or stuck in “survival mode”.
· Curious leader who wants to sharpen performance without burning people out.
Then don’t miss this opportunity to be one of the hero companies leading with the brain in mind, get in touch to find out more details and cost of the Brain@Work® Human Intelligence Diagnostic
“My decision-making and confidence are now so strong. I’ve replaced my imposter syndrome and doubt with brain-based techniques for clarity under pressure. I now make bold decisions knowing they’re backed by how the mind truly works and my team are now famous in the organisation.”
Hi, I’m Soraya, an Applied Organisational Neuroscientist helping leaders unlock the full cognitive and emotional power of their people.
With over 22 years running my consultancy, I partner with executive teams transforming how they lead, decide, and grow using real brain science, not management trends.
My work is designed for forward-looking companies navigating complex change, AI connectivity, and rapid growth. Together, we decode the human brain at work — so your people perform better, stay healthier, and build cultures that work intuitively.
How we work together:
· You can invite me in for a sharp, energising keynote (think brain meets business).
· Bring me closer as a strategic partner or cultural transformation ally.
· Or book a single Brain@Work Human Intelligence Diagnostic session to uncover where brains are being blocked inside your business.
🎙️I’m also co-host of Brainy Podcasts — where we explore how companies can unlock creativity, innovation, and critical thinking. If that’s your kind of future, let’s talk.
