While intention is what someone wants to make happen
or plans to accomplish, the impact involves the quality
of the experience from the perspective of the receiver
— and that impact may not correspond with what the
communicator intended. When communicators monitor
and align intention
Using Our Third Eye
When conversations trigger the primitive brain, we
lose our executive functions. That means that the part of
our brain that contains our ability to connect, empathize,
judge courses of action, and come up with fresh ways of
engaging with others is disconnected from our conversational
ability. We no longer have access to that part of the
brain, so we rely on the part that is active — our “fight,
flight, freeze or appease” impulses.
The antidote for falling into permanent disconnection
and distrust is to activate your Third Eye. Envision an eye
in the middle of your forehead. This eye is where wisdom
resides. This part of our forehead is where the executive
brain also lives. The intention of this is to engage leaders
in activating their prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain
that can reflect on what is happening from a neutral point
of view, see other ways of viewing a situation, and choose
alternatives that will serve their relationship better.
Trust lives in the prefrontal cortex, and engaging this
part of our brain neutralizes threats and allows us to see
alternatives in the moment, alternatives that have not been
available before. Leaders who develop a Third Eye bring
intention and impact together and adjust the conversation
to create a more positive impact.