For a long time, human beings have felt the need to plan, organize, lead and control the resources of their environment, and thus achieve certain objectives for the benefit of the population in which they operate. This need for leadership has influenced decision-making and obtaining optimal results.
Organizational Environment: The development of an appropriate work environment will depend on the synergy between the parts that make it up and on the right decisions made by the Center or Management of the processes associated with the organization. Worldwide there are many organizations and industries that work on the generation and transformation of the necessary resources associated with the development and coexistence of human beings on the planet. But we must ask ourselves: Are all these organizations efficient? If we visualize a quick and simple answer, we can find that many organizations do not achieve the key objectives to maintain a healthy organizational environment that leads to obtaining the desired results. Why does this happen?
In many cases the answer is found at the top of the organizational pyramid; and depending on the processes associated with a certain work environment, the actions taken at this origin point will influence the network that connect all the core-points of the organization; It’s like placing hundreds of vertical dominoes close to each other and then pushing the first one to the side where the others are, and What happens? All the pieces will fall in series as a consequence of that movement initiated by the first piece.
Something similar happens in organizations, where a Leader or Manager greatly influences the decisions-making and the actions given to the rest of the personnel in order to achieve the objectives; however, this people network must work in synergy and at the same time contribute innovative ideas for the optimum development of the organization, thus constituting a feedback system. A clear example is the neural network of the human brain, which is nothing more than the interconnected structure of neurons, with layers of connected nodes.
Brain neurons work efficiently together; however, the brain can partially work if this network is not fully connected, therefore the motor and sensory activities of the human body may not develop in an effective and coordinated manner. Consequently, the ability of human beings to further develop the activity of this neural network will depend on their physical and mental performance. So, How do we associate this with core activities within an Organization? In this opportunity, we will address the processes associated with the oil industry operation, and due to its extensive organization, we will only focus on the upstream area, which includes all the phases that take place on the way to the refinery; that is, from the reservoirs geology, through the drilling of wells, oil & gas production and its subsequent transport to the refining centers.
NEURO-LEADERSHIP IN THE OIL INDUSTRY:
Now, all these phases must be perfectly coordinated and connected to obtain good results, and thus achieve the key objective, which is to place the oil barrel in the storage tanks, always in an environmentally friendly manner; however, achieving this leads to a series of decision-making that must be handled by different Managements, and each of them must be represented by a Leader who must be assertive and have a high notion of planning, organization, direction and control.
This skills set by itself is not enough; therefore, the management approach has evolved over time and has transcended to another level, where the following variables can be highlighted:
- Perseverance
- Criterion
- Impulse Control
- Self-control and supervisión
- Critical thinking
- Empathy • Internal supervisión
- Learning from experience and mistakes
- and very important: Ability to feel and express emotions
Today’s Leaders or Managers must possess these capabilities and put them into practice continuously; this defines a Neuroleader, who must think strategically, have wide capacity to implement or realize innovative ideas, as well as inspire confidence and success in the work team; and in this way markedly influence the belief about what an organization should be, represented by its values, justice and integrity.
Therefore, a Neuroleader or Manager of the New Century, as I would call him, must develop a sense of duty within the organization, promote a new way of handling problems and promote learning for all members of the work team. So, the figure of Neuro-leadership in the entire upstream production chain must be strengthened, and in this way intertwine the technical part with the cognitive and motor part of the personnel; Thus, the decisions that are made will contribute to the optimization of all existing processes in the different phases of this important oil Industry area.
To close this article, I want to express the following: “We have always thought that human beings should impose reason over emotion; that is, make decisions with a cool head and leave aside the emotional issue”. It is the responsibility of every Neuroleader to know in depth the capacities, abilities and skills of the work team, and in this way guide them towards obtaining good results, in favor of the requirements of the Company or Organization; that said, then we must strengthen and promote the formation of Neuro-leadership in the Oil Industry.
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