Ever notice how much effort (and time) we spend trying to suppress emotions at work? Maybe instead of suppressing or avoiding, we need to learn to work with emotions.
Emotions are a large part of everyday life, including at the workplace.
Too often, the message is to “tone it down” and keep emotions out of decisions, keep drama out of the office, and operate from the left side of our brains.
That is, until we need creativity, boldness, motivation, a way to calm the panic, or just a shot of life in the culture.
Thankfully, leaders are waking up to the need for emotional intelligence and a more creative approach to managing emotions at work.
Where do we start? Emotional literacy is the first step in building emotional intelligence. Unless we can speak the language of emotions and read the messages that emotions carry, we will be like illiterates in the land of emotions, and that’s not a good place to be!
Learn to work with emotions instead of stuffing them. Begin by learning the language of emotions and start managing them more effectively.