Dr. Daniel Friedland explains brain science to GSWS delegates.Dr. Daniel Friedland explains brain science to GSWS delegates.
The 2014 Global Spa & Wellness Summit opened its third and last day with a short speech and film by Louie Schwartzberg, founder of Moving Art. His time-capture videos of nature are absolutely breathtaking, and a great way to ease into the day after the excitement of the gala dinner the previous night.
Next were two options: a panel on Wellness Communities/Wellness Living Real Estate, moderated by Jared Weiner and featuring Alfredo Carvajal of WTS, ESPA’s Susan Harmsworth, founder of Serenbe Steve Nygren, and founder of Delos Paul Scialla. As compelling as this sounded, I attended the keynote by Dr. Daniel Friedland, founder of Supersmarthealth, entitled Brain Science and the Impact on Leadership, Beauty and Spas.
Dr. Friedland has spoken at GSWS before, and has a great way of connecting the science behind our brains with actionable efforts for the spa and wellness industry. Dr. Friedland described two kinds of leaders: Low-Performance Leaders, whose typical traits include high ego, drama, moodiness and selfishness, and High-Performance Leaders, typically wise, visionary, fearless and honest.
He asked the audience to describe the meaning of beauty, and laughed when our responses (“happiness”, “inspiration”, “confidence”, “radiance”) did not include any of the physical attributes we market, such as “wrinkle-free”. Beauty is both innate and cultural, and the word springs from the Greek “aura,” itself traced to the concept of time and ripeness. The doctor referenced an interesting TEDTalk on the Darwinian Theory of Beauty, and some studies on how the physical brain reacts to “beauty” stimuli.
Dr. Friedland showed how, as leaders of spa teams, we need to be conscious of the energy we project, and make sure there’s a balance between the sympathetic nervous system (internal gas pedal) and the parasympathetic (brake). We want to trigger creativity, not a “fight or flight” response from our staffs; the benefits of actively engaged staff far outweigh those of disengaged people, and most would rather work for a smiling boss as opposed to a scowling one! He advised we think high-level: “Service is a transaction, hospitality is a dialogue.”
Following the morning keynotes, Pete & Susie Ellis and Mia Kyricos of Spafinder Wellness took the stage to announce the formation of the Global Spa & Wellness Institute, which will become an umbrella organization for the Summit, the Summit website, and the Wellness Evidence website, reflecting the fact that the Summit movement has become much more than a once-yearly event, and now encompasses year-round activities and research for the benefit of the industry. The population served by the Institute includes seven groups: spa suppliers, owners and operators; holistic health professionals; environmental pioneers; governmental agencies; investors and developers; and travel and hospitality professionals. —Lisa Starr
