Rewire Your Patterns | Untangle Yourself | Lead with Clarity

You're capable of more than you think and neuroscience proves it. In The Neuroscience of Leadership: Rewire. Untangle. Lead., Dr. Marcia Ruben, a recognized leadership development expert, provides the science, frameworks, and tools to unlock your brain's full potential and lead with the self-awareness, curiosity, and confidence that today's complexity demands.

Available Now on Amazon

“Marcia has written a book that every leader who has ever wondered, ‘Why do I keep doing this?’ needs to read. Rigorous, warm, and deeply practical — this is leadership development at its best.”

- Dr. Marshall Goldsmith is the Thinkers50 #1 Executive Coach and New York Times bestselling author of The Earned Life, Triggers, and What Got You Here Won’t Get You There.
“The Neuroscience of Leadership book is a treasure trove of insight gems! From brain boosts to reflective prompts, Marcia’s extraordinarily well-researched and science-based book will change your approach to leading in uncertainty. This is essential reading for any CEO serious about leading well, especially during times of change and transformation at speed.”

- Rebecca Macieira-Kaufmann, CEO Advisor, Board Director, Author, FitCEO: Be the Leader of Your Life, former Citibank President and CEO/Chairman of Banamex USA)
“Marcia has written the leadership book that high-performing executives actually need — one that goes beneath the surface behaviors to the neuroscience driving them. The tangled/untangled framework is both immediately recognizable and genuinely transformative. I wish I’d had this ten years ago.”

- Shalini Govil-Pai, General Manager at Google TV
“Finally! A fresh lens on why smart, capable leaders get stuck. Marcia’s conceptual framework is both elegantly simple and immediately recognizable to anyone who has ever watched a team of talented people descend into paralysis. A seamless read from insight to application, and one that provides readers with concrete tools to change how they think, lead, and respond under pressure.”

- Patrick Malone, Director, Key Executive Leadership Programs, American University; coauthor Leading with Love and Laughter and Little BIG Decisions.
“Most leadership books tell you what to do differently. This one asks a harder question: why do you keep doing what you’ve always done, even when you can see it isn’t working? Ruben goes straight to the biology — and then untangles the neuroscience so you can untangle your leadership even in today’s increasingly tangled world.”

- Jennifer Garvey Berger, CEO of Cultivating Leadership, and author of Changing on the Job, second edition; Simple Habits for Complex Times; Unlocking Leadership Mindtraps; Unleash Your Complexity Genius.
“In a time when leadership is often reduced to technique or biology, this book makes a meaningful contribution by linking neuroscience with the inner work required for real transformation. It helps explain how and why we get triggered, reactive, and “tangled,” while also pointing toward the deeper psychological development needed to lead with clarity and presence. This is a grounded and practical guide for leaders committed to growing their capacity in a complex world.”

- Bob Anderson, Founder and Chairman of The Leadership Circle and Co-founder and Chairman of the Full Circle Group; coauthor of Mastering Leadership and Scaling Leadership.
“The Neuroscience of Leadership draws on what we know about how the brain functions to explain why a leader’s automatic responses to complexity and ambiguity can lead to unintended and often counterproductive thinking and actions. Dr. Ruben then provides straightforward neuroscience-based ways for leaders to “rewire their thinking” to better address the challenges of today’s environments. This is a welcome and refreshing addition to the contemporary debates about complexity and leadership, and a must-read for anyone curious about ways to feel less stuck and more effective.”

- Robert J. Marshak, Ph.D. Distinguished Scholar in Residence Emeritus. American University, Washington, DC; author of Covert Processes at Work: Managing the Five Hidden Dimensions of Organizational Change.
“Marcia’s tangled or untangled framework serves as the neuroscience companion to Question Thinking™. It clarifies exactly why leaders become trapped in reactive, fear-driven patterns and offers them a powerful, science-backed route to the curiosity and clarity essential for authentic leadership. A landmark book for anyone committed to transforming their leadership approach.”

- Marilee Adams, Ph.D., Bestselling author of Change Your Questions, Change Your Life: 14 Powerful Tools for Leadership, Coaching, and Results.

So You Can Untangle Complex Challenges, Ignite Peak Performance, and Achieve Standout Success.

Empirical Research
Informed by empirical research findings in leadership, adult development, complexity science, and neuroscience that provide powerful insights and pragmatic strategies for success.

Depth of Experience & Results
Grounded in over 30 years of experience with leaders in various industries and business sectors.

Customized Solutions
Customized to your specific organizational and leadership culture and designed to move you rapidly from insight to effective action to measurable change.

The Latest Tools
Powered by the most cutting-edge tools to achieve transformational change.

Challenges We Solve. Tangles We Transform.

The Four Leadership and Organizational Tangles® That Block Capacity, Clarity, and Performance

The Inner Game Tangles

When confidence wavers, control tightens, and leaders play it safe to avoid failure rather than striving for impact, performance stalls from the inside out.

The Misaligned Leadership Tangles

When strategy, structure, and leadership behavior pull in different directions, even high performers lose traction, and decision-making becomes cloudy and slow.

(Includes: leadership teams out of sync, unclear priorities, ego battles, lack of alignment between words and actions.)

The Team & Culture Drift Tangles

When teams lose trust, silos deepen, and culture becomes reactive instead of intentional, collaboration erodes—and poorer results follow.

(Includes: unspoken tensions, “meeting theater,” lack of psychological safety, values misalignment.)

The Complexity Overload Tangles

When volatility and ambiguity outpace a leader's or team's capacity to adapt, decision paralysis, burnout, and chaos take hold.

(Includes: VUCA environments, change fatigue, over-responsibility, stuck systems.)

“Marcia’s outstanding coaching has been critical in my leadership development. She helped me identify my passions and goals and find my sources of strength to achieve them. Marcia adeptly guided me towards career goals that engage and challenge me.”

— S. Peters, White House Fellow Source

“Dr. Ruben is not only highly effective in guiding someone to become a more effective leader; she does so with enthusiasm and humanity, making the process enjoyable, fulfilling, and rewarding.”

— A. Diaz, General Manager

Please get in touch with us to book a free consultation and learn how we can help you navigate the complex leadership challenges you face.

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