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Higher mind-brain development in successful leaders: testing a unified theory of performance

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Abstract

This study explored mind-brain characteristics of successful leaders as reflected in scores on the Brain Integration Scale, Gibbs’s Socio-moral Reasoning questionnaire, and an inventory of peak experiences. These variables, which in previous studies distinguished world-class athletes and professional classical musicians from average-performing controls, were recorded in 20 Norwegian top-level managers and in 20 low-level managers—matched for age, gender, education, and type of organization (private or public). Top-level managers were characterized by higher Brain Integration Scale scores, higher levels of moral reasoning, and more frequent peak experiences. These multilevel measures could be useful tools in selection and recruiting of potential managers and in assessing leadership education and development programs. Future longitudinal research could further investigate the relationship between leadership success and these and other multilevel variables.

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Fig. 1

Notes

  1. The remaining 10% of adults are pre-conventional, a developmental range normally found in children.

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Acknowledgments

We thank G. C. Rieber AS, Bergen, Norway and Oslo and Akershus University College, Oslo, Norway for financial support, and Tor Dahl and Magne Lerø for their help with identifying the top-level managers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Technology, Art, and Design, Division of Management, Oslo and Akershus University College, P. O. Box 4, St. Olavs Plass, 0130, Oslo, Norway

    Harald S. Harung

  2. Center for Brain, Consciousness and Cognition, Maharishi University of Management, 1000 North 4th FM 683, Fairfield, IA, 52557, USA

    Frederick Travis

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  1. Harald S. Harung
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  2. Frederick Travis
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Correspondence to Harald S. Harung.

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Harung, H.S., Travis, F. Higher mind-brain development in successful leaders: testing a unified theory of performance. Cogn Process 13, 171–181 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-011-0432-x

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