If your emotions are bigger than the thing, it’s not about the thing…
Dealing effectively with emotions is a key leadership skill, although under-appreciated and under-utilised. As managers, we’re conditioned to believe that strong emotions should be suppressed, especially in robust operating environments. However, we all have emotions whether we like it or not. Sometimes you’ll observe managers behaving in a very emotional way, but they’ll rationalise their behaviour with logic.
Research shows that when people don’t address their emotions they display lower levels of wellbeing & more symptoms of stress. If you have the right vocabulary to articulate your emotions, it allows you to address the right issue. We need a more nuanced vocabulary for our emotions. If we think we’re angry, but we’re actually hurt or frustrated it can provoke very different and less optimal responses. When we’re working with leaders & they’re dealing with a stressful issue or conflict we often encourage them to use a tool like the Emotions Wheel below to help them articulate how they’re actually feeling. This allows to them to identify the root cause, and choose a more constructive response and achieve productive outcomes
Who knew that emotional awareness could make organisations more efficient?!
Image attribution: https://allthefeelz.app/cc/feeling-wheel/