Leaders often wonder why their messages don’t land. As we walked down the seventh-floor hallway of CIA headquarters, one of the world’s most powerful people, the CIA director, turned to me and asked, “Why aren’t they being more innovative?”
I knew exactly who he meant—Agency employees. Innovation was his top priority. With growing frustration, he added, “I’ve said it in five different speeches: I want more innovation.”
At the time, I didn’t have a good answer. But looking back, I should have said:
“Sir, it’s human nature to tune out speeches. If that’s your only channel, you’re missing the signals employees are actually wired to hear. It’s time to move beyond the broadcast.”
The neuroscience of leading to be heard
Since that conversation, I’ve spent more than 16 years studying neuroscience and how it applies to leadership.
The human brain is wired to ignore most of what it hears—especially if the content feels irrelevant, vague or threatening. When your employees seem distracted, disengaged or resistant to communication, the issue might not be their attention. It could be your approach.
The good news? Small, brain-friendly changes in how you communicate can make a big difference in how people hear, retain and act on what you say.
The brain’s default mode: self-protection
From a survival standpoint, the brain is constantly filtering for threats and relevance. When a leader speaks, employees are unconsciously asking:
- Is this safe for me?
- How could this help or hurt me?
- Is this a signal or just more noise?
If the brain doesn’t get clear, personal answers to those questions within seconds, it can tune out.
Common leader communication mistakes
There are three common reasons why leaders might be getting tuned out:
- Broadcasting instead of connecting. Leadership messages delivered via speeches often sound like corporate press releases. Psychologists tell us we listen more when we feel emotionally connected. Two CIA directors who did this well were Mike Hayden and Leon Panetta. They periodically sent personal, individual notes to the workforce—these had impact.
- Flooding the prefrontal cortex. The brain’s decision-making center can only process a few ideas at once. Jack Welch, former chairman and CEO of General Electric, once told me, “Mike, we have to focus on speed, simplicity and self-confidence.” I was puzzled: He’s already told me that three times. Then I realized Welch’s strength came from repeating a simple, understandable message. Long or abstract messages, no matter how well reasoned, overload the rational part of the brain and don’t take hold.
- Unintended threat triggers. Vague directives or surprise changes can spike cortisol and trigger resistance. The brain responds better to clarity, predictability and positivity. I studied 200 of the best bosses at the CIA, and one of the common denominators was positivity.
The brain science of getting them to listen
Here are six simple but powerful techniques for communicating in a way that engages, resonates and drives action:
1. Use the brain’s powerful visual cortex. Studies show that vision dominates perception, even when other senses provide conflicting information. Take advantage of that by complementing your message with graphically displayed data, images, videos, demos, illustrations or infographics.
2. Help the brain produce narratives. Stories activate more areas of the brain than raw data. Stories help people feel and remember. A metaphor can clarify a strategy more effectively than a spreadsheet.
3. Be brief, then invite engagement. Give bite-sized messages followed by open-ended questions: “What do you think?” “How would this affect your team?” Dialogue deepens understanding. Even in large groups, Jack Welch and CIA Director George Tenet were masters at communicating their message through informal give-and-take sessions.
4. Align your message to fit human nature. Make it clear you’re not assigning blame or adding stress. Explain the purpose first—this engages the brain’s pattern-seeking system and helps listeners connect new information to what they already value. Tailor your message to show you understand their concerns, goals or values.
5. Rally your front-line managers. This crucial group interacts with employees face-to-face every day. They create the microcultures that sum up your corporate culture. Task them to praise every employee each week and to do positive and helpful five-minute weekly check-ins with their employees. These actions build psychological safety at the grassroots, which improves innovation, performance and the likelihood of your message being adopted. Give them a boost by sending them a positive, personalized monthly note.
6. Get feedback. Adopt a walking-around management approach to ask questions and to discover ground truth. Employees and subordinate managers are more likely to understand you in these sessions than in a town hall. Use periodic short surveys to see if your intent is reaching the ground.
Communicating in times of stress
When times get tough, I’ve seen firsthand how employees want five times more communication, and managers tend to deliver five times less. Before you communicate a major message, ask yourself:
• What fear might this trigger?
• How can I make this feel safe and relevant?
• What story or metaphor will make this stick?
The leadership payoff
Take a lesson from the CIA director and don’t over-rely on broadcast speeches. A casual and straightforward approach is often more potent than a formal one. Leaders who understand how the brain works get heard because they link their messages with human nature. They get results.
