Sahar Yousef
Cognitive Neuroscientist at UC Berkeley, Haas School of Business
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Sahar Yousef
Biography
Dr. Sahar Yousef is a cognitive neuroscientist and faculty at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. After spending over a decade doing Department of Defense research on neuroplasticity and how to improve memory, attention, and overall human performance in as little as 7 weeks, Sahar now researches and teaches busy leaders and their teams how to be more productive and effective at work.
At Berkeley, Sahar runs the Becoming Superhuman Lab (featured in Forbes and Business Insider) and teaches one of the most popular MBA classes, called "Becoming Superhuman: The Science of Productivity and Performance". Sahar has become one of the world’s leading experts on cognitive training and is featured as a top scientist in the Headspace wellbeing app (used by over 2 million people every day). In 2021, Sahar produced a multi-part video series with John Legend on the science of music and its impact on our focus and emotions. She was also recently selected by Thinkers50 as one of the top 30 thinkers to watch throughout 2024 and the year ahead.
Since COVID began, Sahar has given over 700 talks and keynotes to knowledge workers in 50+ countries, has advised executive teams at Google, JPM, TPG, Citadel, and Visa, and has been invited to speak in front of the US Congress.
Known for her fast-paced, high-energy style and her science-backed practical tactics, she is consistently rated as the #1 session at events, particularly within the technology, financial services, and private equity industries.
Sahar Yousef
Featured Videos
Current: Becoming Superhuman - Keynote
Time 05:15
Sahar Yousef
Featured Keynote Programs
Becoming Superhuman
The Science of Optimizing Productivity and Performance
Key Learnings:
● Leading research on the three biggest mistakes of productivity and performance and the scientific reasons WHY people commonly make those mistakes
● How to increase your team’s productivity by 25% without increasing hours worked
● Why daily progress is the single most important factor that drives productivity, creativity, and well-being
● How to prioritize the most important and valuable tasks, even in the face of urgent demands, by using “Daily MIT Setting”
The Science of Energy Management
Understanding Your Unique Biological Chronotype
Key Learnings:
● Discover your biological chronotype and how to optimally schedule your day for peak productivity and effectiveness
● Gain an understanding of circadian rhythms, ultradian rhythms, and peak performance hours
● The most effective breaks according to science and strategies for avoiding the afternoon dip
Wellbeing Matters
How to Effectively Manage Stress and Prevent Burnout
Key Learnings:
● The science behind “video fatigue” and how to combat
● Why burnout became officially classified as a disease in 2019 by the World Health Organization and what distinguishes burnout from excess stress or depression
● Leading indicators and a simple tool you can use to quickly assess your individual or team’s burnout risk
● How to reverse the slow damage burnout does to the brain and body
● Practical frameworks for beating burnout, including the 3M framework
THE SCIENCE OF INFLUENCE PERSUASION, AND EXECUTIVE PRESENCE
Key Learnings:
● The neurobiological basis of trust and human connection and how to maximize psychological safety with direct reports
● The factors that influence how, why, and when people say “yes”
● How to reliably regulate yourself into an ideal brain-state to maximize executive presence and communicate effectively
● Advanced techniques for in-situ brain-state and emotional regulation
● The science of mirroring and how a leader’s emotions set the tone for the room
● Strengthening your executive presence and how to “command a room” in person or over video
● What changes when influencing remotely vs. in-person
Sahar Yousef
Featured Articles & Resources
How Leaders Can Combat Burnout on Their Teams This Winter
The employees are not alright. Two and a half years after burnout reached new heights during the pandemic, the feeling has still not entirely subsided. And burnout, which is...
People spend more than half their day doing busy work, according to survey of 10,000-plus workers
Office workers are spending more than half of their day doing busy work instead of the job they were actually hired for, according to a new survey of more than 10,600 global...
How Slack ruined work
IF YOU HAVE a suspicious feeling that Slack is slowly taking over your time at work, you are not alone.
More businesses than ever have turned to the workplace instant...
How This Cognitive Neuroscientist Uses Science To Increase Work Efficiency
Dr. Sahar Yousef, a cognitive neuroscientist at UC Berkeley, conducts research on cognitive enhancement which involves the human brain and human consciousness. The training...
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