EXECUTIVE CONTROL

One thing that everybody knows about executives is that they are in control. “The buck stops at the executive’s desk,” or at least it should, because, ultimately he or she is responsible for the policies of the organization and their execution. That’s executive control. So it is inside you— inside all human beings. It is the very development of the executive functions that enables us to think about our thinking so that we can take the time to choose the best course of action. Unlike animals that operate from their genetic code and from their built-in emotional reactions, or the unthinking actions that we can condition them to make— we humans can rise above all of those processes.

Then, in rising above those processes, we can strengthen the ones that add value and vitality to our lives and dampen those that undermine our effectiveness and efficiency. By rising above our own experience, we can then qualify our experiences with the resources that we have learned and developed.

You can rise above your fear and bring courage, hope, responsibility, love, etc. so that you don’t have to live as a victim to fear. You can transform fear into cautious but courageous action. You can rise above your sadness and bring hope, determination, resilience, and commitment so that you use your sadness to humanize your heart and deepen your appreciation of the preciousness of life. You can rise above a mistake and bring curiosity, fascination, and responsibility so that the mistake becomes a resource that you learn from which makes you better.

Today we speak about executive control as emotional intelligence since that involves emotional awareness, monitoring, and regulation. We also speak about it as self-management. I like to talk about it as the place where we make executive choices. That’s because when you rise up, activate your prefrontal cortex, become aware of yourself— you are at choice point. You are at a place in your consciousness where you can take control by making informed, smart decisions. And when you do, you are turning a central part of yourself to becoming the person you want to become (see Executive Decisions, 2021).

Every human has this power, but most humans do not use it. At least they do not use it for the development and unleashing of their potentials. Many powerfully mis-use it as they choose to be a victim, to blame, to evade responsibility, in a word— to give their power away. They give it away thinking that by escaping the freedom of choice, they will not be responsible. Yet they are. Blame as they may as a way to feel good about themselves— yet the decisions they make is the life they live. Choosing to live in a disempowered way is ultimately their choice and response- ability.

In Neuro-Semantics we address executive control by beginning with the “Power Zone” Pattern. In this pattern, we focus on the four inevitable powers or responses that every person has in order to bring awareness, acceptance, appreciation, and ownership to these response-powers. From a meta-stating perspective, this sets up several gestalt states. In this meta-stating, the gestalt states of proactivity, taking initiative, and responsibility arise. Philosophers have theorized for centuries about the structure of these complex meta-states without success. That’s because they did not consider them a gestalt of multiple states that arise as emergent properties in the human system.

But now we know. Start with the primary state of your ability to think—feel, speak, and act. To that state, meta-state it with awareness and acceptance. Then bring appreciation to it, then ownership. As you then mix all of these together into your neurology (state induction), give it time and experience (perhaps through repetition) to thoroughly jell. Do that until the gestalt states start emerging. But don’t stop there. Next meta-state the sense of fallibility to your powers— that will enable a sense of robust humility. Meta-state it with a sense of celebration and you get that “can do” attitude of appropriate optimism. Then like Viktor Frankl in the concentration camp, you too can experience something fantastic such as, “They can’t make me hate them; they can’t take away the final human freedom!”

Executive control— it is a possibility for you. It is a prize and reward from some basic meta- stating which you can begin to do today. And if you want to be the CEO of the Company of “You,” it’s a great place to begin.