Liesl Keen
With 25 years of experience in corporate human resources, Mrs Liesl Keen is a leadership coach and industrial organisational psychologist who has worked in Ireland, the Middle East, and Africa.
She has also lectured at the Southeast Technical University in Ireland, delivering executive coaching and coaching for change programs to masters level students and coaches.
Liesl is in the final stages of completing her doctorate in Neuroscience Coaching for Transformational Leadership, a cutting-edge discipline that combines the most recent neuroscience research with useful coaching techniques for the advancement of organisational effectiveness and leadership skills.
Liesl recently moved back to the UAE, working as an organisational consultant and coach, designing and delivering training programs that equip leaders with the tools to leverage neuroscience for improved leadership skills, decision-making, and team dynamics. She further conducts workshops supporting and empowering managers to adopt coaching techniques, that foster a supportive and high-performing work environment, creating coaching cultures in organisations.
Her contributions to the field are characterised by a holistic understanding of human behaviour and her ability to translate this knowledge into practical applications that drive organisational success.
Her approach is rooted in evidence-based practices, ensuring that her clients benefit from the most current and effective strategies at the intersection of neuroscience, neuropsychology and psychology.
The development and testing of an integrated neuroscience coaching framework for transformational leadership development
The development and testing of an integrated neuroscience coaching framework for transformational leadership development
Orientation: Applied neuroscience makes a unique contribution to the field of coaching and leadership development. It provides an integrated approach to enhancing coaching and leadership theory and practice, by incorporating new insights on human functioning.
Research Purpose: The purpose of this study was to create an integrated neuroscience coaching framework and to test its impact on transformational leadership development.
Motivation for the Study: While coaching and leadership development theory are well researched within the management and behavioural sciences domains, current advances and research in neuroscience offer fresh perspectives on both fields.
Research Approach/Design and Method: First, a theoretical coaching framework was developed. Interactive Qualitative Analysis (IQA) was applied, with two research groups participating: one group consisted of six leaders who took part in a coaching process to develop transformational leadership competencies, informed by the neuroscience integrated framework; the other consisted of three manager participants of coachee participants, who provided insights into observed leadership development. Data were collected and interpreted according to the IQA protocol.
Main Findings: Applied neuroscience in coaching facilitates the development of homeostasis in the three operating neural networks, which results in the optimisation of neural functioning and congruence in terms of basic psychological needs. This congruence and optimisation supports the leader in developing behaviours that aligns with transformational leadership competencies.
Implication for Practice: Applying an integrated neuroscience framework to leadership coaching can enhance the development of transformational leadership behaviour. It thus provides an opportunity for incorporating neuroscience principles into coaching training and leadership development practices.
Contribution/Value Add: This study contributes to the theory and practice of coaching and leadership development, by offering insights into new approaches and interventions within coaching, for enhancing transformational leadership behaviours.
Keywords: applied neuroscience, basic psychological needs, coaching psychology, interpersonal neurobiology, leadership coaching, memory systems, operating neural networks, organisational neuroscience, organisational psychology, transformational change, transformational leadership.