This Neuroscientist-Turned-Entrepreneur Says Leaders Should Be a Little Naive

What happens when a neuroscientist who has started multiple companies sits down to talk leadership? You get a mix of science, honesty and hard-won lessons.

Dr. Paul Zak is a college professor, bestselling author, and founder of Immersion Neuroscience — a company that uses brain data to understand what people really care about in real time. He’s published over 200 scientific articles, but in this interview, we asked him to set the research aside and answer seven very human questions about how to lead, grow and make tough calls.

Here’s what he had to say, including why he believes good leaders need to be a little naive, how to build a team you genuinely care about and the surprising mindset shift he’s made around goals.

Q1: What is the role of a leader from your perspective?

Zak: To make others around him or her successful.

Q2: What’s the one thing every leader needs to know?

Zak: No one’s perfect. People have good days and bad days, and do not stress when people underperform unless they do it consistently.

Q3: What’s your most important habit?

Zak: Being stupid. By that, I mean not being unwilling to make bad decisions to learn something or make decisions and learn something. So really, maybe the better word is naive, I was just trying to be cute. So I think if you’re naive, then you’ll try all kinds of things. As long as those are not catastrophic, then you’re going to learn a lot and you might score a home run.

Q4: What’s the most important thing for building an effective team?

Zak: I think you have to love your teammates in the filial sense. I have to be committed to them as human beings.

Q5: What’s the biggest mistake you see other leaders make?

Zak: Treating people as if they’re replaceable.

Q6: What’s the best way to deliver bad news?

Zak: I believe in the spoonful of sugar approach. Start with the good news and then come in with the bad.

Q7: What’s something you’ve changed your mind about recently?

Zak: I think goal setting. I’ve changed a lot in goal setting. I used to be a real hard ass and hitting goals consistently all the time, no whining. And then I realized that humans are imperfect, and I am imperfect and asking for perfection is asking to be disappointed every day. So, I think it’s really moving into a coaching model and working towards getting better as opposed to being perfect.

Watch the full episdoe here:

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