Dr. Ron Gharbo is an expert in the body-brain connection and in today’s conversation, he endeavors to help Laura understand the intricacies of Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and how it is intimately connected with and an indicator of one’s emotional intelligence (EQ), which is highly correlated with success in leadership.

Recent advances in wearable technologies give Dr. Gharbo predictive insight into an individual’s energy reserves, which allows him to assess whether they are physically equipped to deal with physical and emotional stresses.

“Energy is finite,” he explains. If an individual actually understood his or her personal “energy bank,” he or she could make better decisions about what to engage in or take action on. “If you knew your reserves were low, would you still take this action?” is a question he poses as he walks Laura through how it works.

HRV is incredibly sensitive and requires skilled interpretation into the physical and emotional variables that impact it. Practitioners can gather enough data over time to understand an individual’s HRV and make healthy modifications through exercise, breathing, and mindful awareness.

Dr. Gharbo takes this level of insight and information to a new level when he expresses interest in doing a large-scale experiment within a corporation allowing participants to self-modulate behavior and HRV through a phone app. It’s a fascinating conversation and an intriguing idea for sure; if you’re in HR and want to take him up on this experiment, connect with him below.

Ron’s Bio

Raouf (Ron) Gharbo D.O. is board certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PMR) and Neuromuscular Electrodiagnostic Medicine and is faculty at the Virginia Commonwealth University Department of PMR, the hub for the National Veterans Administration Chronic Effects of Neurotrauma Consortium. 

In 2020, Dr. Gharbo submitted a novel approach to whole health: Autonomic Rehabilitation: Adapting to Change. Dr. Gharbo was the clinical HRV expert for the largest randomized control trial for inducing cardiorespiratory synchronization to reduce chronic pain. He gave the keynote address at the 50th Anniversary for the Academy of Applied Psychophysiology in 2019, the Richard Baer Lectureship at The Ohio State University Medical Center 2018. His submission, on reproducible placebo analgesia at the International Conference on Opioids in 2017 was selected as a top presentation. 

He is Riverside Health System faculty for the emerging leaders program. He speaks to all new health system providers and through ANS Health, LLC, he coaches athletes, coaches, and corporate leaders on the Physiology of Leadership and sustainable high performance. He has been awarded the Distinguished Service Award for Physicians for Peace for leading medical missions.  He was Ohio State University's top male scholar-athlete in 1988 and the University's first walk-on All-American wrestler.

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