- Tell us your name and what you do
Joan Kingsley, Consultant Clinical, Organizational Psychotherapist and author of The Fear-Free Organization: Vital Insights from Neuroscience to Transform your Business Culture.
- Tell us about your background
I am an Honorary Consultant Psychotherapist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery and am on the Psychotherapist register at the School of Life. I run my own private psychotherapy practice in London and practice as an Executive Coach with businesses, supporting their staff.
I am a member of The New York Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts, and a member of the Royal Academy of Medicine and am registered with the UKCP.
I have two daughters called Katherine and Anabel and am married to the world famous Trichologist, Philip Kingsley. We are a family of writers, with Philip having written the hugely popular “The Hair Bible: A Complete Guide to Health and Care” while Katherine, under her pen name Kate Kingsley, has written The Young Loaded and Fabulous teen series published by Headline in the UK and Simon & Schuster in the US. Anabel is making her name in the field of Trichology and is frequently published and quoted in beauty and professional press both in the UK and the US.
- What is your specialist skill?
I have spent the past 25 years researching the links between brain systems and our psychological lives and it is this that is my specialist skill.
- Tell us about your new book ‘The Fear Free Organization’?
Launched in July 2015, The Fear-free Organization is a pioneering new book. Together with clinical and organizational psychologist and executive coach, Dr Paul Brown and oil and gas professional, Sue Paterson, I decided to write The Fear-free Organization to give people insight into the destructive force of fear; how fear affects our personal lives and permeates business environments. Everything we do, think and feel is underpinned by emotional systems in the brain. Emotions are hard-wired into the brain and, as such, are part and parcel of our neurobiology. The Fear-Free Organization explains, in easily understandable language, the role of emotions in our sense of self, our relationships, our memories – not just the things we remember but how we remember them – and building and maintaining trust.
- How does it help trainers/organizations?
The Fear-free Organization explains the impact of fear when it is used by managers and leaders to motivate and control employees; it spells out the devastating impact on a person’s brain when the fear system in the brain is triggered. Fear trumps excitement, joy, trust, and creativity every time. The experience of fear moves the person into fight, flight or freeze mode.
The Fear-Free Organization draws attention to the need for senior staff, trainers and oranizations to appreciate how fear may be ruling their businesses and how this is affecting their teams, prohibiting the development of new ideas, creativity and unlimited potential. It looks at how insights from neuroscience can help companies transform their business culture by eradicating bullies, vicious gossip, undermining behaviours, hijacking tactics, political jockeying for position or favouritism. It explains how to harness what brain sciences teach us to make this transformation a reality, creating a successfully run business based on emotions that create energy and direct cooperation – not fear.
It also advises individuals on how they can overcome difficulties at work, helping them tackle fear in the workplace and how they can fulfil their potential.
- How can our readers find out more about your new book ‘The Fear Free Organization’?
The Fear-Free Organization is available for £29.99 from the Kogan Page website, Amazon, WH Smith, Waterstones, Blackwells. Foyles and John Smiths bookshop.
