EKTE Leadership: The Human Skills Behind High-Performing Teams

In this interactive leadership workshop, Lisa Paasche shares the principles behind EKTE Leadership—a neuroscience-informed approach to leadership, communication, culture and performance.

Drawing on her experience building and scaling award-winning agency Verve Search before its acquisition by Omnicom Media Group, Lisa explores how beliefs shape performance, why psychological safety matters, how nervous system states influence decision-making, and the role authenticity, trust and healthy disagreement play in creating exceptional teams.

The session combined real business stories, practical leadership frameworks, behavioural profiling, neuroscience and experiential exercises designed to help leaders build stronger, more connected and more resilient teams.

Topics include:

• Psychological Safety & Human Performance
• Nervous System Regulation & Decision-Making
• Trust, Connection & Team Dynamics
• Authentic Leadership
• Communication & Conflict Resolution
• DISC Behavioural Profiling
• Accountability & Ownership
• Building Shared Vision & Culture

Presented at HiveMCR Leadership Training Day by Lisa Paasche, Founder of EKTE Vision.

Transcript

1. EKTE Leadership - The human skill behind high-performing teams
2. • SEO & Digital PR Agency • Won 50+ awards, incl Best SEO Agency 3 Years running • Sold Verve to Omnicom Media Group in 2017, exited in 2021 • Mentor & Advisor • Neuroscience Informed Leadership Coach • Workshop Facilitator & Speaker • Podcast Host & Producer “Being EKTE” I was the Founder & CEO of Verve Search I am now a Coach & Agency Transformation Advisor Who dat Lisa Paasche?
3. Read STORY
4. BELIEF
5. For decades, people believed running a mile in under 4 minutes was physiologically impossible. Doctors and experts literally said the human body would break down.
6. Then on May 6, 1954 Roger Bannister ran a mile in : 3:59.4
7. 46 days later: John Landy ran 3:58. Within a few years: multiple runners broke the barrier. Today: over 1,500 athletes have done it.
8. The body didn’t suddenly evolve in 46 days. The belief did.
9. Expectation precedes perception. The brain looks for evidence to confirm what it already believes is possible.
10. Every second we have about 6-10 million bits of information registering to our sensory organs
11. On a conscious level we can only deal with 50-100 bits of information, because 99.9% goes on to be able to maintain our bodily function
12. BUT the 50-100 bits of information we notice, we have control over
13. 60% of the time, it works every time!
14. 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 10% PROFIT MARGIN JANUARY 2015 THINGS LOOKED A BIT SHIT….
15. 74 websites everything else 50% of website traffic goes to only 74 websites, the other 50% is divided between millions of other websites.
16. X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X O X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X WHEN EVERYONE DRAWS A CROSS DRAW A CIRCLE
17. The idea was that we had to create creative campaigns on par with creative agencies to get the best possible links
19. But people within the agency didn’t agree, they were happy to keep doing what they were doing
20. I had to make the difficult decision to make 40% of the agency redundant
21. Not because they weren’t good enough, they just didn’t believe it was possible.
22. EMBED VIDEO TO PLAY Link to MENTION on The Tonight Show
23. Getting a gambling company a link is notoriously difficult, getting them primetime tv coverage, is beyond what was thought to be possible.
28. 360 VR CAMPAIGN WITHOUT ANY BUDGET
33. TV3 (SWEDEN) NBC (US) ITV NEWS (UK) WE GOT COVERAGE ON TV
34. Greenpeace WWF NASA WE GOT SOCIAL COVERAGE BY GLOBAL ORGANISATIONS
35. We launched over 65 creative campaigns per year, in 8 different countries, and generated thousands of links from the biggest websites in the world.
36. 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 10% PROFIT MARGIN From this….
37. 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 40% PROFIT MARGIN 2 YEARS LATER WE WERE FLYING…
38. GRIT is more important than experience
40. CONNECTION
41. The Autonomic Nervous System
42. Autonomic = works beneath the level of consciousness (we don’t think about it)
44. We are living in a dopamine-fuelled world. We are reward rich but connection poor
45. When people perceive threat, sympathetic activation rises (fight/flight)
46. Clench your jaw Raise your shoulders Tighten your muscles Hold your breath slightly
47. What is 25 x 15?
48. Then release and breath out slowly
49. Did that become easier?
50. A brain under threat can not think logical or forward
52. Fear narrows the future. Safety expands it.
53. In 1997, Dr. Arthur Aron conducted an experiment on interpersonal closeness between strangers
54. 36 progressively personal questions 4 minutes of eye contact
55. Strangers reported deep emotional closeness within 45 minutes
56. Vulnerability accelerated feelings of closeness The eye contact further intensified that connection
58. Psychological safety and social connection are associated with stronger parasympathetic regulation and social engagement states
59. Evolutionary humans are wired to be rewarded to take care of each other
60. The brain releases neurotransmitters like oxytocin (bonding hormone) which activates the pleasure and reward center
61. LOVE WEEK
62. 1. EVERYONE PICKED A NAME AT RANDOM 2. DO SOMETHING NICE FOR THAT PERSON EVERY DAY FOR A WEEK (SECRETLY)
64. FRIDAY WAS REVEAL DAY WHAT STARTED HAPPENING WAS MAGICAL
65. LOVE WEEK INCREASED PERFORMACE MORE THAN PAY RISES OR BONUSES
66. Connection is not about always agreeing, it’s about being able to disagree and solve the challenges by communicating
67. AGREEABLE DISAGREEABLE GIVER TAKER Source: Adam Grant
68. Encourage people to disagree
69. Resolving a disagreement or even “surviving” a disagreement connects us
70. Resentment is what kills connection, and this usually only happens when you are NOT communicating your view/truth
71. Learning to disagree
72. AUTHENTICITY
73. Why Does Authenticity Matter?
74. Have you ever taken an immediate dislike to someone, and you can’t put your finger on why?
76. The limbic system is expert at detecting inauthenticity
77. We later post-hoc rationalise “why” we didn’t like someone
78. “They just seemed arrogant” “I didn’t like the way he spoke”
79. But the decision was made before logic even showed up
80. We often feel first (limbic), explain later (cortex) and call it “reason”
81. Even if you believe you have traits/behavior that is not desirable or liked by others, you are better off displaying these, rather than hiding or masking them.
82. “I would rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not” - Kurt Cobain
83. Being authentic is also essential for YOUR happiness
84. WHO YOU ARE !
85. WHO YOU ARE ! WHO YOU THINK YOU SHOULD BE!
86. Chronic inauthenticity (limbic friction) leads to: • Anxiety • Burnout • Disconnection
87. While authenticity leads to: • Better decision making • Stronger Relationships • Psychological resilience
88. You perform better when your brain doesn’t need to pretend
89. UNDERSTANDING
91. Behavioral Profiling
92. DISC Behavioral Profiling
93. https://www.crystalknows.com/disc-personality-test
95. DISC Behavioral Profiling
96. Using Behavioral Profiles in conflict
97. When seeing a situation from the other persons perspective it changes how you feel
98. Saying sorry doesn’t mean you are wrong
99. You are at the airport with a wheeled suitcase, you accidently drive over someone’s foot with the suitcase. Do you say sorry?
100. It’s about taking accountability
101. You didn’t do it on purpose, but it is still your suitcase
102. Wanting to be agreeable and liked sometimes makes you bad at your job
103. Questions is the answer
104. I used to give people I had just hired a random article, and ask them to read it. At the bottom it asks why they are reading it. Taking orders without asking questions or understanding why, is where a lot of mistakes happen.
105. DEVELOPMENT
106. Let people be authentic, and play to their strengths
107. Not EVERYONE should manage people
108. Create single contributor vs management track as pathways to promotion
109. Single Contributor Vs Management Track
110. The salary should to be the same for both tracks
111. HEAR THEM OUT
112. Urgent and Actionable Important But Not Immediately Actionable Ongoing Issues Requiring Long-term Solutions External Factors Outside Control
113. Acknowledging issues, even without action, can have huge impact
114. Our Thinking
115. Sympathy Vs Empathy
116. Don’t always believe what you THINIK
118. 1. What we know for sure 2. We add assumptions 3. We add emotion 4. We go to worst case scenario
119. If you are not sure, ask!
120. Negative self talk
121. Write down one negative thing you say to yourself regularly
122. “I’m not good enough” “I am too much” “They are going to figure out I have no idea what I’m doing"
123. Now turn to person sitting next to you and say the sentence to them, using “you” instead of “I”
124. How did it feel to say that to someone?
125. Negative self talk is like laying down the bricks to your own prison
126. Now write down something you admire about yourself
127. M Shared Vision
128. Your brain is a prediction machine, it shapes reality based on what you expect.
129. What you focus on, you start to notice, believe, and move towards.
130. Every second we have about 6-10 million bits of information registering to our sensory organs
131. On a conscious level we can only deal with 50-100 bits of information, because 99.9% goes on to be able to maintain our bodily function
132. BUT the 50-100 bits of information we notice, we have control over
133. Note! The human brain can not comprehend the negative
134. DON’T THINK OF AN ELEPHANT
135. If you focus on the obstacles, all you will see is obstacles
136. Don’t look at the trees, look where you are going
137. Red or Blue Exercise
138. This is an exercise played in ten rounds. The objective of the exercise is for your team to finish with the highest possible positive score. There will be 10 rounds, the last two rounds (9 & 10) will score double You will not know what the other team has nominated on each round until you have made your choice, nor will they know what you have nominated. After both teams have made their choice on each round the facilitator will tell each team what has been nominated and what the scores are.
139. There will be an opportunity for an inter-team negotiation, after round 5. However, a negotiation can only take place at the request of both teams. REMEMBER: THE OBJECTIVE IS FOR YOUR TEAM TO FINISH WITH THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE POSITIVE SCORE. Once you get in the room with your GROUP: Chose 1 person in the group that will be the “leader” that will write down the decision of the group on the poster and tell the facilitator. You have 3 Minutes to make your FIRST round score, after that each round will be 2 min.
140. DOES EVERYONE UNDERSTAND THE RULES? Be careful not to ask any questions that might give away your strategy.
142. Results
143. What did you learn? Did anything surprise you? How did you feel? Did anything come up that frustrated you?
144. The inventors of the “Prisoners Dilemma” Game Theory
145. What Game Theory Reveals About Conflict & War With Professor Robert Axelrod and Professor Steven Strogatz https://youtu.be/mScpHTIi-kM?feature=shared
148. Nervous System Reset - Jessica Maguire Mind Magic - Dr James Doty The Creative Act - Rick Rubin
149. Thank You! Lisa Paasche lisa@ekte-vision.com @EkteLisa www.ekte-vision.com