Neuroplasticity as the basis of disruptive leadership: managerial strategies to transform culture and business agility

Abstract

This research aims to analyze neuroplasticity as the foundation of disruptive leadership in order to propose managerial strategies that transform organizational culture and enhance business agility in rapidly accelerating contexts. In environments characterized by technological volatility and globalized competition, organizations face an urgent need for leaders capable of catalyzing profound changes in collective mental models. Neuroplasticity is defined as the brain's capacity to structurally and functionally reorganize its neural connections through experience, learning, and exposure to novel stimuli (Doidge, 2007). Disruptive leadership is characterized by questioning the organizational status quo, driving radical innovations, and reconfiguring cultural patterns through systematic experimentation and strategic tolerance for failure (Rahaman, 2024). A descriptive documentary-bibliographic methodology was employed, with a systematic review of 42 indexed academic sources (2018-2026). Thematic-comparative analysis and proactive integration were applied using an adapted PRISMA protocol (Moral-Cuadra et al., 2021). The results identify five operative neuroplastic mechanisms: strategic planning, controlled exposure to ambiguity, disruptive emotional regulation, multisensory narratives, and unlearning microhabits. These mechanisms develop key competencies for transformational leadership. The study concludes that neuroplasticity positions disruptive leadership as a biological lever for organizational change, enabling the systematic conversion of environmental disruptions into sustained competitive advantages through the reconfiguration of cognitive and cultural patterns.