Zidanes Amygdala Hijack and Head Butt, a Derailer

Seen around the World

July 20, 2006 -- In front of 2.8 billion World Cup Soccer viewers in 213 countries Zinedine
Zidane, a world-wide role model, lost his self-control and head butted Marco Materazzi. This
amygdala hijack demonstrated to the world how easy it is to derail in seconds if you cant
control your emotions, says psychologist and Emotional Intelligence expert Dr. Relly Nadler.
Zidanes comments demonstrate the seriousness of his high profile hijack.
The amygdala hijack is a term coined in Daniel Golemans Emotional Intelligence, his first
book on the subject. The amygdala is the emotional part of the brain, which regulates the fight or
flight response. When threatened, it can respond irrationally. A rush of stress hormones floods the
body before the prefrontal lobes (regulating executive function) can mediate this reaction.
Zidanes surprising and aggressive response demonstrates the three signs of the amygdala
hijack: strong emotional reaction, sudden onset, and regret for your actions when you reflect
later.
Zidane apologized to the children for his act, but remained unrepentant to Materazzi and
rationalized that Materazzis statements provoked him. Dr. Relly Nadler, a psychologist,
executive coach and Emotional Intelligence training and tools expert, observes: Zidanes
comments demonstrate the seriousness of his high profile hijack. His logic was suppressed by the
powerful tunnel vision survival reaction of the amygdala. No one can make you do something
against your better judgment, but the amygdala always can.
Zidane rationalized later that he knew there were only minutes left in his last career game and
Materazzi response demanded retaliation. He was not thinking logically at that time and his
response characterizes what Dr. Nadler says psychologists call cognitive dissonance in
explaining his behavior. In other words, there must have been a good reason to do something so
stupid. Is that the only message the 28.8 billion viewers are left to ponder, replay and emulate on
some level?
What was needed for Zidane to prevent this derailer was more emotional self-awareness,
accurate self-assessment and self-control Those characteristics represent three of the 18-20
competencies of Emotional Intelligence (EI).
EI is essentially understanding and managing yourself and understanding and managing others. It
has been demonstrated to account for 80-90% of the attributes of star performers - someone who
consistently performs in the top 10%. Dr. Nadler, the author of the forthcoming Leaders
Playbook states, EI helps inoculate performers from derailing, where they can quickly fall off
their hero pedestal. EI can be learned with a series of tools and training.
Only time will tell to what extent the hijack and head butt tarnishes Zidanes incredible career.
He is not alone in highly visible amygdala hijacks, where careers are derailed and sunk with

momentary emotional reactions.

The top five examples of Amygdala hijacks include:
1. Zidanes head butt
2. Bill Clintons follies with Monica Lewinsky
3. Mike Tyson biting Evander Holyfields ear in their 1993 title boxing match
4. Enrons executives numerous hijacks over their tenure
5. Howard Deans infamous scream during the 2004 primaries
Lack of impulse control is one of 18 key Derailers for executives, leaders and managers. We all
do these behaviors at some point, but the greater the frequency the more trouble you bring to
yourself and your organization, said Nadler.

Author: Relly Nadler