How to be a good mentor
23 hours ago • by Ginka Toegel in Brain Circuits
Learn how great mentors listen, ask better questions, and guide growth—helping mentees gain clarity, confidence, and take meaningful next steps…
by Robert Vilkelis, Francesca-Giulia Mereu Published April 29, 2026 in Brain Circuits • 6 min read
An American executive giving direct personal feedback in Japan isn’t “rude”, but as experienced leaders know, such feedback may be culturally misaligned. Neurodivergence is the same: behaviors that seem “difficult”, “unfocused” or “abrasive” may simply reflect a different cognitive culture that most leaders, no matter how experienced, have never been taught to read. The cost of this misreading is real: friction, disengagement, and contributions that never get heard.
Instead of trying to diagnose behavior, design for difference.
One question changes the leadership conversation:
Instead of asking, “Why are they doing this?”, ask: “What function might this behavior serve?”
This shift does not remove accountability. It rather refocuses it. Leaders distinguish more clearly between behavior that undermines outcomes and behavior that simply differs from expectation. Rather than triggering self-defense, feedback becomes more precise and lands better.
The broader implication is that high performance is built on alignment, not uniformity. When standards are defined around outcomes rather than behavioral norms, different working styles can happily coexist without compromising results.
Two people with the same diagnosis may present very differently. Labels can indicate patterns, yet they do not define how someone works. Instead of trying to diagnose behavior, design for difference:
Neurodivergence is not a performance issue: it is a translation gap, and translation is a leadership skill. The same decoding that helps a leader read a neurodivergent colleague serves them equally to attune to individual and situational differences. When leaders shift from judging behavior to treating it as a culture worth understanding, richer collaboration emerges.
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Robert Vilkelis is an education professional with a track record of designing and delivering large-scale learning experiences that prioritize scalable structure and the people at its core. He has managed complex operations, led multi-layered teams, and driven measurable improvements in learner satisfaction, retention, and impact across international English camps and EdTech spaces.
Executive coach
Francesca–Giulia Mereu is an executive coach with over 25 years’ experience, specializing in personal energy management and leadership transition. She is the author of Recharge Your Batteries, a certified yoga teacher, and creator of the popular “Energy Check” online tool. She coaches senior leaders at IMD and through CCHN, the Center of Competence on Humanitarian Negotiation. She shares more energy-focused posts via her LinkedIn private group.
23 hours ago • by Ginka Toegel in Brain Circuits
Learn how great mentors listen, ask better questions, and guide growth—helping mentees gain clarity, confidence, and take meaningful next steps…
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Understand the seven major changes in leadership mindset and capabilities required for successful transition to enterprise leadership, as detailed by Michael D. Watkins….
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April 21, 2026 • by Didier Cossin, Yukie Saito in Brain Circuits
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Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel KahnemanÂ
Founder and director of the IMD Global Board Center, the originator of the Four Pillars of Board Effectiveness methodology and an advocate of Stewardship.
Didier Cossin is the Founder and Director of the IMD Global Board Center, the originator of the Four Pillars of Board Effectiveness methodology, and an advocate of stewardship. He is the author and co-author of books such as Inspiring Stewardship, as well as book chapters and articles in the fields of governance, investments, risks, and stewardship, several of which have obtained citations of excellence or other awards. He is the Director of the High Performance Boards program, the Mastering Board Governance course, The Role of the Chair program, and co-Director of the Stakeholder Management for Boards program.
Senior Research Writer
Yukie Saito is a Senior Research Writer at the Global Board Center at IMD. Her research interests primarily focus on corporate governance, stewardship, and responsible investment, with her publications centered around these topics. Her work also includes examining governance issues, effective board practices, and the impact of governance on social and environmental performance. She holds a D.Phil. from the University of Oxford, a Master of Public Affairs (MPA) from Sciences Po, Paris and a B.A. in Business and Commerce from Keio University. She is an associate researcher at the Fondation France-Japon de l’École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS).
April 22, 2026 • by Prashant Saxena in AI
As generative AI erases the visible difference between real and fabricated content, authenticity becomes a strategic imperative. Prashant Saxena explains why perceived authenticity depends on three factors operating together and shows how…
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March 4, 2026 • by Tomoko Yokoi, Michael R. Wade in AI
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February 19, 2026 • by Michael D. Watkins in AI
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Join us for daily exercises focusing on issues from team building to developing an actionable sustainability plan to personal development. Go on – they only take five minutes. Read moreÂ
What makes a great leader? Do you need charisma? How do you inspire your team? Our experts offer actionable insights through first-person narratives, behind-the-scenes interviews and The Help Desk. Read more
Log in here to join in the conversation with the I by IMD community. Your subscription grants you access to the quarterly magazine plus daily articles, videos, podcasts and learning exercises. Sign up
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