PUBLISHED BY JOHN MURRAY BUSINESS (HACHETTE)

The Brain Instruction

Manual for Leaders

What nobody told you about working with humans

by Bruna De Palo

  • Kindle & Audible: Available now, worldwide
  • US & Canada edition: 15 September 2026

Audible Sample

Even smart leaders still struggle with stress, resistance, conflict. The brain instruction manual explains why and offers practical solutions you can implement straight away.

BUILT FOR IMMEDIATE RESULT

Why Even Smart Leaders Stay Stuck

Smart leaders attend training, read books, and learn techniques, yet under pressure they fall back into old habits and repeat the same challenges.

That’s because most advice teaches what to do, but not how the brain works or what drives behaviour.

The Brain Instructions Manual for Leaders closes that gap. It helps you lead yourself better, handle people challenges more effectively, and reduce stress.

With practical tools, memory shortcuts, field guides, and online extras, you can turn insight into action immediately.

FEATURED ON & RECOGNISED BY

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Designed to maximise your time

Inside the Book: Learn It. Retain It. Use It.

It also includes:

  • Instant Recall tools to remember key concepts fast
  • Field Guides for practical use in the moment
  • Emergency Manual for pressure situations
  • Practice indexes to connect theory to real scenarios
  • QR-code to Extras with diagnostic tools, tests and more content

So you don’t just read it... you use it, immediately.

The book is organised in three parts:

1.

Understand the machine

How the brain works, simplified for real life.

Learn the core dynamics that shape behaviour, performance, stress, motivation, emotions, resistance, and decision-making.

2.

Solve Real Leadership Problems

Apply brain science to everyday challenges.

Learn to leverage dynamics to solve the most commom leadership challenges, related to communication, collaboration, change and stress. 

3.

Your Questions, Answered

Straight answers to the questions leaders ask me most.

Quick, practical guidance on the challenges that come up in real life and under real pressure. 

Buy it for yourself

Available worldwide on Amazon and other major retailers, including Kindle eBook and Audible audiobook editions.

Buy it for your team

Give your team a shared language for more effective communication and collaboration.

Save 40% on 10 copies, receive a Leadership Team Discussion Guide plus a private live Q&A with Bruna for your team.

A Quick Sneak Peak...

click here to Read the synopsis

SYNOPSIS

You know what good leadership looks like.

You've learned the models, tools, and techniques. And yet, under pressure, everything slips: conversations derail, tension builds, people resist. You fall back into old patterns, even when you know better.

Why?

Because most leadership advice focuses on behaviour, without explaining what's actually driving it. This book gives you that missing piece.

First, you'll understand how the brain works, cutting through the myths.

Then, how to use it to solve real leadership challenges.

It translates modern neuroscience into clear, practical insight you can use immediately. Instead of remembering techniques, you understand what's happening and know how to respond.

You will learn to:

  • Shape the conditions where people perform at their best
  • Master your energy, not just your time
  • Bridge generational and cultural gaps, turning friction into advantage
  • Handle difficult conversations without the emotional hangover
  • Apply small, practical shifts that work in real life, at work and at home

Through real stories, brain-based insights, and pressure-tested tools, you'll understand what's driving behaviour. Then use it.

That's the advantage nobody told you about.

click here to look at the table of content

TABLE OF CONTENT

Introduction: Why Do You Get Sick When It’s Time To Go on Holiday?

PART 1 HOW THE BRAIN WORKS
The Brain Dynamics Every Leader Needs to Understand

  • Ch 1: The Brain, Simplified (and Why It Matters for Leadership)
  • Ch 2: What Determines Performance
  • Ch 3: Why Understanding Emotions is Non-negotiable for Business
  • Ch 4: Neuroplasticity: Yes, Change is Hard But Possible
  • Ch 5: The Must-Create Condition That Makes Everything Else Work
  • Ch 6: Stress, Unveiled

PART 2 - HOW TO USE THE BRAIN
Applying Brain Dynamics to Real Leadership Challenges

  • Ch 7: What’s the Real Problem You Need to Solve?
  • Ch 8: Rethinking Creativity: Helping Your Team Think Out of the Box
  • Ch 9: Change: Why It Fails (and What Makes it Stick)
  • Ch 10: The Umpteenth Change: Turning Resistance into Engagement
  • Ch 11: Difficult Conversations: Preventing Defensive Shutdown
  • Ch 12: Generational and Cultural Gaps: Bridging Them to Boost Collaboration
  • Ch 13: Stress and Energy: Creating Conditions for Sustainable High Performance

PART 3 - YOUR QUESTIONS, ANSWERED
Some Common Questions I Get Asked, and That You May Be Wondering About Too

  • Q: If that’s how the brain works, why do authoritarian leaders achieve so much success?

  • Q: Is using AI changing how our brains think, and are we at risk of losing something important in the process?

  • Q: What about teenagers using AI?

  • Q: Where do i even start if I want to lead in a more brain-enhancing way?

  • Q: How do I make good decisions when my brain feels permanently overloaded?

  • Q. How do I support neurodiversity in my team and get the best from everyone?

  • Q: How do I lead people who genuinely think, feel, and process information differently?

  • Q: How do I measure the progress of change in this context?

  • Q: How do I provide a constructive feedback that lands and sticks?

  • Q: How do I take care of my brain?

EXTRAS

  • Before We Say Goodbye
  • Appendix: The Field Guide
  • The Instant Recall
  • Connecting Theory to Practice
  • The Emergency Manual
  • The Upgrade Hub
  • The Science Behind This Book
  • The People Who Shaped This Book
  • Who You’re Learning From
Formats

Hardcover, Kindle and Audible edition

Print Length

336 pages

Language

English, soon to be translated in other languages

Publisher

Hachette, via John Murray Business

Dimensions

Royal size: 14.1 x 1.96 x 22.23cm

ISBN-10

1399837451

Who is this book for, and why Now?

Bruna coached me through one of the hardest stretches of my leadership career. She helped me break old habits and see situations from perspectives I’d been missing. This book captures exactly how she did it, practical, science-backed, and immediately usable. Every leader will find something here that changes how they lead.


Søren Smidt Olsen, Service Solution Sales Senior Director, Salesforce
LEADERS, entrepreneurs and... parents

This book is for you if:

  • You lead people and leadership feels heavier than it should
  • You want science without fluff
  • You care about performance and wellbeing
  • You’ve read leadership books or attended programmes, but what you learned didn’t stick

It’s not for you if:

  • You enjoy generic motivation
  • You want theory without application
  • You’re unwilling to rethink old assumptions
WHY NOW?

The world has changed fast: uncertainty is higher, change is constant, and old leadership models are no longer working.

Understanding how the brain works gives you a practical advantage: it helps you know what to do, anytime, anywhere, whatever is happening around you.

CORE ValueS

PROMOTED

IN THE BOOK

Humanity in leadership | Wellbeing without sacrificing performance | Evidence-based understanding of the brain | Better relationships at work and at home | Intellectual Honesty | Responsible leadership for future generations

What Senior Leaders Across the world Are Saying About the Book

Faq.

IS THE BOOK AVAILABLE IN OTHER LANGUAGES?

It will be!
At the current time it's available in English and we'll add links to translated versions here as they become available. The book will be published:

  • in the UK on the 18th June 2026
  • in US & Canada on 15th September 2026

Can I order bulk quantities, e.g. 10 – 1000+ copies?

You absolutely can! Just send an email to Sara at sara@brunadepalo.com so we can help you arrange it. Bulk orders often qualify for significant discount (depending on the quantity), for example:

QUANTITY

10 - 499

1000 + 

1000 + 

DISCOUNT

40%

45%

50%

I have a media or press request, who should I talk to?

Please contact Sara at sara@brunadepalo.com and, if you wish, download the Press Release here

I want to hire bruna as a speaker

Please contact Giovanna Ratti at giovanna@brunadepalo.com for events in London and abroad.
Bruna speaks both in English and Italian and is available to travel. 

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