THE COGNITION OF SUBMISSION

Communication is key, but it can also be used to manipulate and persuade. Are we aware that a simple story can influence our thinking? Here, I explore how advances in neuroscience impact how managers talk to their staff and what consequences this might bear.

Lacking connections

For decision-making, we use the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus areas of our brains (Moghadam, Khodadad & Khazaeinezhad, 2019). For finding consensus in decision-making processes we utilise the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, posterior superior temporal sulcus/temporoparietal junction and intraparietal sulcus and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex because we constantly juxtapose individual input with external input (Suzuki et al., 2015). Obviously, most of the decisions are actually made for employees and the process of discussion and debate takes place peripherally to their circle of influence. That corroborates the fact that employee brains are not stimulated as much and thus they are missing out on strengthening these neural connections.

There are more topic areas such as emotional intelligence (Forbes, 2020; HBR, 2017), critical thinking (Live Strong, n.d.), negotiation skills (Harvard Law School, 2012) and long-term planning and prediction (Schubotz, 2011) — otherwise known as mission and vision statements, in which employees are largely deprived of cognitive capacity and processes, leading to significantly less stimuli and use of such brain areas, thus making them less productive and intelligent when compared to those who do utilise them (Agor, 1985).

Deception as a tool and intellectual awakening

Leaders and managers can actually manipulate employees by mobilising insights from neurology in their daily communications. Storytelling has been on the rise for a good reason: it stimulates areas of the brain responsible for neural coupling, releasing dopamine and activating cortex activity as well as motor and sensory cortices (Neuro Leadership Institute, 2021). With this aphrodisiac effect, leaders can influence and shift preconceived attitudes or beliefs of employees and make their message or direction more appealing. This is problematic because unbeknownst to them, it makes employees refrain from critical thinking: facts tell, stories sell… A study actually found that storytelling impedes people from critically assessing and processing crucial facts while it encourages to focus on less important side notes (Krause & Rucker, 2019). This frames what people think about and how they do it. It may be noteworthy that closed or directing questions are cognitively perceived as commands by humans. That means that framing orders as the only logical outcome to a question is not doing the job well.

In the same vein, there are numerous presentation techniques that leaders actively utilise to establish rapport, appeal to different personality types and to increase the probability of landing their message. While anyone can read up on them via platforms like TED, applying the techniques in real life is mostly reserved for people managers. Training facilities and providers would frame the aforementioned skills as soft skills aimed at improving the workplace through making content and decisions relatable. However, this entire apparatus is conceptualised to maintain and justify the power position of leaders and to keep resistance to a minimum, admittedly this is sometimes unknown to people due to their close proximity to the system.

Priming what people think about and in what ways is highly problematic. Not many people have the time or the will to thoroughly scrutinise what and how leaders say or do. There needs to be an intellectual awakening by the people and capacity-creation to think big about certain topics departing from their own mind, without external influences.

Summary

As I have shown, there is a cognitive level of potentially abusive manipulation, be it consciously or subconsciously, that contributes to an existing power difference between leaders and employees and that is being upheld by training companies who make a profit out of it. Surely, the use of anglicisms contributes to an overall positive reputation of such mechanisms in foreign language (think storytelling, change management, persuasive communication etc.).

© Luka Paul Vethake, 2024