Emotions as Leverage Points

As managers we are taught to put our emotions on hold and manage
people using reason, logic and data. Creating this emotional void
is an impossible task given that we are humans leading a team of
other humans.

Emotions are everywhere for everyone … all the time.

Rather than trying to push them into the background and deny their importance to your business, we suggest you think of them as exclamation points - especially the “negative” emotions.

In our experience coaching business leaders, the negative
emotions of frustration, fear, anger … are very important
markers of leverage points for growth … growth of the company
and the leaders’ personal growth.

They are also the places we all tend to avoid focusing whenever possible.

Build A Personal Example for Yourself …
Look at the things in your work place that have anger,
frustration, fear or disappointment associated with them. It may
be a person, a project or a team you are frustrated with. You may
avoid dealing with them because you just don’t know how to
proceed or you have tried before and it didn’t work.  There are
probably several spots in your work week that make it on this
list.

Look again at each of these situations and Imagine …  you have dealt
with them successfully and they are now gone.

What difference would their resolution make in your performance and job satisfaction?

In most cases, breakthrough in these specific areas would make a
MAJOR change in your productivity and morale.

The things resist the most - because of our negative emotional response to them - are the places where a fix would yield the greatest improvements in your team’s productivity and your personal growth. It is as if our emotions  highlight the places to focus our efforts for change.

 TRY THIS:
- Make a list of the things in your business that upset you in
some way…all of them.

- Pick one (you might pick the biggest, the easiest to resolve or
something in between) and list the benefits of successfully
dealing with it…benefits to you, to the company, to the world.

- Brainstorm some ways of resolving this issue you haven’t tried
yet… share the situation with friends and get their ideas.

- Decide what step you would like to try to resolve this issue.

- DO IT.

(Contact Me … if you would like a brainstorming
partner or cheerleader in this “emotional reclamation” project)

 And watch the difference addressing this upsetting issue makes in how you feel about work and your team. I will predict right now … it’s gonna feel really, really good … !

In my Next Post - I will give you ways to discuss these negative
emotions with your team members and deal effectively with those
issues that cause you the most frustration as a team

Learn More at our Superteams site here