The anterior left portion of the brain is responsible for most of our fact-based analysis and decisions. This could be as simple as what to eat for dinner, or as complex as making a military decision involving thousands of lives. When weighing the facts and then making your decision based on analyzing those facts, it is this portion that fires up.
According to some studies, dopamine (the “goal driving” neurotransmitter) may be produced in the left side; or at least the left side responds better to it.[1] This may be responsible for influencing a person to reach their goals regardless of what might get in the way. Combine with this the thought that we activate the anterior left when we are setting and planning to achieve our goals and we can understand why the Boss BQD is exceptionally good at goal setting and achieving. Willpower is another function that appears to be processed in this portion of the brain, adding further dimension to this BQD’s goal achieving abilities.
The anterior left is very active when doing activities like delegating authority and taking charge. There tends to be a heightened left-brain activity, caused by dopamine, which is thought to be what leads to dominating, power seeking type behavior.[2] Additionally, to analyze people and use their skills most efficiently you are using this portion of the brain a great deal; another reason why individuals with this as their BQD will be great at delegating authority. This means that they may often be energized by being in-charge.
This is also the portion of the brain that is used heavily when involved in competition. This means that this BQD is very competitive, and enjoys conflict and engaging in hardball negotiation. When we are actively engaged in some form of competition, for the purpose of winning, we are using the anterior left.
Housed in the anterior left part of our brain is the Broca’s area. If you recall from the brain anatomy section of this manual, this is the home of cognitive speech. The result is that individuals with this BQD are naturally very articulate and non-emotional in their speech. They do not read between the lines, what they say is what they mean. It is this quadrant that also interprets numbers and signs literally; therefore, it is used heavily when analyzing the stock market or anything related to weighing facts for an outcome that will be a goal achievement.
You will often find them reading books that will help them to become greater leaders, increase their profits in the stock market or investments, or biographies of great leaders. They will not necessarily enjoy reading fictional romance stories. Remember, their home is on the left side of the brain; which does not have as many connections to the emotion center as the right side. Therefore, their speech and actions will also not contain much emotion. They will most likely perceive displays of emotion as a loss of control.
Based on the functions that are processed in this portion of the brain, I have created a detailed list of personality traits that will tend to be dominant in a person who has an energy expenditure advantage here. Familiarize yourself with the list; think of people you know that have these traits and tend to be gifted in doing the functions listed below. The more you get this list locked in your brain, the easier it will be for you to sit and do a consultation with a person and, after asking a few specific questions, identify what their BQD may be.
A person with the anterior left BQD will most likely be gifted in:
- Logical, inductive/deductive reasoning.
- Energized by fact-based problem solving.
- Sets and pursues goals.
- Will do research if it aids them in reaching their goals.
- Good willpower.
- Makes decisions with ease.
- Delegates authority well; CEO Personality.
- Workaholics.
- Has written life and/or business plans.
- Enjoys being in charge, and is good at it.
- Gifted at hardball negotiation.
- Good at analysis, figuring out functionality.
- Enjoys using tools of every type.
- Competitive and deals well (even thrives) with conflict.
- Avoids change, unless logically sound and can aid them in achieving their goals.
- Manages money well; careful spender.
- Good at stocks and bonds.
- Understands numbers and signs.
- Prefers reading material that is scientific, or stories about wars, heroes, or great leaders.
- In speech, chooses words carefully and takes meaning literally.
- Articulate. (Home of audible speech, Broca’s area)
- Not good at nonverbal communication.
- Takes everything literally.
- Gifted at prioritizing.
- Their living/work space will be uncluttered; colored with grays, black, white, and navy.
- Prefers structured music: classical.
- Objective and non-emotional.
- Perceives emotion as a potential loss of control.
- Hobbies may include: anything using tools, debate clubs, reading, wood working.
- Not gifted in the diagonally opposite posterior right strengths of care-giving and harmonizing.
Based on their brain strengths, they most likely excelled in the following subjects in school:
- Algebra
- Calculus
- Auto mechanics
- Electronics
- Electrical engineering
- Public speaking
- Debate
- Government/Civics
Often times, you will note very strong traits at an early age. Asking questions about your childhood, or the childhood of the person you are working with, can help you determine your/their natural giftedness. Sometimes, one’s innate BQD could have been suppressed early on due to pressures in childhood and birth order factors, which I will cover in more detail in a later unit. But, for now, here is a list of childhood characteristics that may indicate a natural BQD in this portion of the brain.
- Tends to be verbal and logical.
- They will direct the other children.
- Usually somewhat cautious.
- May test everything to the limit.
- Needs a reason to learn.
- Remains focused on a problem until solved to their satisfaction.
- Tends to be impatient when things don’t go their way.
- Tends to weigh the pros and cons.
- Tends to argue and debate.
- They are often competitive.
- Likes taking things apart to see how they work.
With each of the main quadrants there will always be negative terms, labels, or words that are used to describe them. Part of the beauty of understanding all of this scientific information is that it allows us to look to the reason why people do what they do and resist the desire to use these terms. Nevertheless, if you, or a person you are working with, feel that this may be how you/they are described, then it is another clue that this may be their BQD.
Negative terms used to describe this BQD might be:
- Over controlling
- Non-Emotional
- Stoic
- Tactless
- Workaholic
- Insensitive
If you are coaching or consulting with a person with this BQD, and the subject of work or careers is something that you are discussing with them, you will want to help them lean towards work that matches their brain gifts. Good career choices for individuals with this BQD would be ones that allow them to have a larger measure of control and authority; one with structure and the room for growth to achieve their goal setting and achieving desires. For example:
- CEO/CFO. Most of the skills connected to this job are tasks that use this portion of the brain: fact-based decision making, authority delegating, and inductive/deductive reasoning.
- CPA. Most CPA’s own their own businesses and fall into the same category as CEO and, for the same reasons, this will be a good fit.
Surgeon. Often times, this job requires skills that use on-the-spot logical decisions that could mean a life. Weighing the emotional outcome is not something you would want in this situation.- Negotiator. Hard ball negotiation takes place in this portion of the brain.
- Higher ranking military positions. Again, the ability to make fact- based, non-emotional decisions is a required skill in this type of career.
- A career that uses mathematics. Math is a skill that uses this portion of the brain; any career that requires these skills will be great for this BQD.
- Lawyer. Especially trial lawyer; where they can “argue”.
- Electrical engineer. The red wire always connects to the red wire. Logical.
- Investigative journalist. Finding the facts.
- Contractor. The larger the company the better, if they are in control.
It is equally important to understand that, from an energy expenditure point of view, the diagonally opposite portion of the brain will be the most energy intensive part to work out of. This means that, for this BQD, the tasks that use the posterior right portion of the brain will consume large amounts of energy. They will find it challenging to process functions that are connected with the Nuturer personality. So, they will most likely not excel in things like: helping others to get along or feel comfortable, making people feel welcome or as though they belong, foreign languages and attaching spiritual meaning to experiences. Spending too much time in the diagonally opposite quadrant will lead to high energy expenditure and brain exhaustion. They may also find it challenging to interact with individuals who are gifted in the posterior right brain quadrant.
While you will never want to spend too much time outside of your BQD, it is necessary in life to use all of our brain at one time or another. If you do not have this BQD as your gift, there will be situations when you, or someone you are working with or coaching, need to develop some competencies in this portion of the brain. After all, if you have to make a fact-based decision or analyze facts to create and achieve an important goal, you will need to use this brain quadrant. So, below are a few things that you, or the person you are coaching, can get involved in that will help build those necessary skills in the Boss portion of your brain. This is by no means a comprehensive list but it gives you an idea of where to start.
- Join a debate club. Remember, the anterior left is the part of the brain that actively fires up when you are engaged in a debate.
- Play games to win and keep score. The home of competition is here. When you focus on winning you are burning energy here.
- Set reasonable goals and reach them. For greater success in our business and personal lives, we all need to be able to do this.
- Take something apart and analyze the purpose of the parts. Analysis is a gift in this brain quadrant, so practicing this task will develop skills here.
Validation is vitally important for all BQD’s. If you feel that you are, or you know someone who fits into, this BQD, realize that the traits present in your/their personality are due to this being your/their brain energy expenditure advantage. These are your/their innate gifts–not shortcomings. Honor your/their need to be in control and make the decisions. Allow yourself/them to set goals and priorities in their life.
[1] Mapping the Mind, page 39, Rita Carter
[2] M.A.S. Boksem, R Smolders & D. De Cremer. “Social power and approach-related neural activity. Social cognitive and affective neuroscience.” 10 (2009), 1-5