FACULTY VIEWPOINT MIRANDA RALSTON, PSYD How Leadership Behavior Impacts Employees Miranda Ralston, PsyD, director, Master of Arts in Organizational Psychology with Darlene Piva, associate director of Field Placement for Organizational & Leadership Psychology Dr. Miranda Ralston once worked for a challenging boss. The experience forced her to change careers, it also ignited a desire to study the neuropsychology of leadership. That led to her current roles as director of the Master of Arts in Organizational Psychology at 91香蕉视频成人在线 and faculty director of the Neuroscience of Leadership area of emphasis in the Organizational and Leadership Psychology Department. 鈥淎s an early childhood educator, I had 45 four and five-year-old students and a very difficult boss. I burned out quickly because of the leadership conditions. I wanted to understand my reactions,鈥� says Ralston. 鈥淲hen I started investigating the psychology and neuroscience of leadership, the discoveries blew my mind. I never looked back.鈥� Ralston now has a master鈥檚 degree in Organizational Psychology and a doctorate in Leadership Psychology from William James. Teaching students about leadership, organizational psychology and neuroscience is her passion. 鈥淚 have never had a workplace experience like this,鈥� Ralston says. 鈥淲e have resonant leaders who foster more productive employees and an atmosphere of psychological safety so employees can take interpersonal risks.鈥� Dissonant leaders, on the other hand, decrease a sense of safety. 鈥淲hen parts of the brain associated with threat responses are activated, executive thinking shuts down and there is no clear thinking,鈥� says Ralston. 鈥淢any companies try to fix leadership/ employee problems by throwing money at them. It doesn鈥檛 work. Employees need internal triggers to be motivated and work hard.鈥� Ralston hopes that teaching students the neuropsychology of leadership will lead to better leaders and healthier organizations. She is building a laboratory for the study of the Neuroscience of Leadership. Currently, students use specialized equipment loaned by local medical device companies to conduct research. Ralston is sowing the seeds that will hopefully reap the better leaders of tomorrow. 6 RAPPORT | Short Take