Podcast: Ben Nothnagel wants leaders to learn one question: “Should I?”

Be self-aware of how you are feeling and behaving - be “situation smart”.

Reetta Räty, 05.04.2018

Ben Nothnagel heads a self-development process for Aalto Executive MBA program. He says that the core of the program is to limit unthinking behavior and to promote thinking behavior in important moments of our lives. Nothnagel wants leaders to be self-aware of how they are feeling and behaving, in his words: one needs to be “situation smart”.

“The situation smart is the the skill to access your existing ability in important moments in your life.”

One cannot always change the circumstances in which work is done and decisions are made. But behavioral patterns in a pressurizing environment are something that can be influenced.

In this podcast, Nothnagel explain the power of the question: Should I? He wants leaders to ask themselves: Should I be stressed? Should I be angry? Should I be irritated? Should I this, should I that.  “There is a difference between feeling stressed or busy and actually being really stressed and too busy”, he says. “The power of should I is that you know the answer to your problems yourself.”

Ben Nothnagel also talks about the concept of the “your next move”, neuroscience, emotional awareness, chronic stress, and how to be smart angry.

What do effective leaders have in common, Ben Nothnagel?

”The most effective leaders regardless of gender, have an unique physiological profile with relatively high testosterone and relatively low cortisol levels.”

Listen this podcast by journalist Reetta Räty, and you can find out, how to lower your own cortisol levels - and chronic stress, too.

Read a long form article "You have to get your thinking back" featuring Ben Nothnagel.

More podcasts in Finnish can be found here. The English ones are shown below.

Currently reading: Aalto Leaders' Insight: Podcast: Ben Nothnagel wants leaders to learn one question: “Should I?”

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