Time to get rid of antiquated beliefs
Have you ever attended a business management course that would have been about feelings? In training, at the latest in your first job, you encountered beliefs such as: “Feelings are out of place in business!”, “In business it’s all about numbers, data, facts!”, “Negotiations and decisions have to be based on facts only, not on feelings! “. What old pots are still being on the ovens in our companies today!
Every posture we display is an expression of a deep, strong feeling. Our feelings are measurably present much faster than our mind! Feelings stir and influence our thoughts and actions before we are even aware of them.
FEELINGS: EVOLUTIONARY Meaningful, BUT STILL InaPPROPRIATE?
Another popular belief is that it ist real art to have feelings under control before they can control you. Perhaps well-intentioned advice, but in corporate, employee and self-management, something else is much more important today: not to underestimate the power of emotions and, above all, to finally put an end to their exclusion! Because companies can hardly afford to financially counter the effects of disregarded or permanently suppressed feelings and that has hard-hitting effects on profitability: Failures, reduced performance and sluggish organizational development do not by far cause not only personal, but verifiable economic damage, so literally belong to the risky side.
DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE WHO IS STILL AT THE NEGOTIATING TABLE!
Love and fear are two of our strongest feelings and therefore two very strong drivers. Both are known to unleash incredible powers! Even if we supposedly have these two “under control” in professional environment, they still have a lot of relatives, such as preference, sympathy, enthusiasm, concerns or fears. They speak up diligently in meetings, in decisions and in finding strategies. If we like it or not. And they two have it all: love and fear. Love of the job, love of acquired status, love of success and the fear of not being able to maintain it. Fear of losing status or face, fear of rejection, fear of the unknown. If the resignation is on the table, the rejection of a cooperation or the doctors note on long-term illness, it is too late. The collateral damage has already occurred and can be shown directly in the income statement.
IT IS LONG TIME NOT TO BE DAMAGED AT ALL!
If the effects of emotions in employees and executives are attributed to the corporate health system, that may be a start, but by no means a corporate culture! Feelings belong on the work table every day, like numbers and data, because they are factual! When we learn to stop pretending that this is not true, when we learn to perceive these feelings, to address them and to deal with them consciously, this opens up opportunities for authentic guidance and self-guidance.
KNOW HOW TO BE AWARE OF THE STRONG INFLUENCE OF EMOTIONS
Constant postponements, tough negotiations, endless discussion loops! Is there really only something organizational behind it? Replacing employees, changing responsibilities – that is certainly not the cheapest and least sustainable measure! To look and and to listen is required! And derive measures from it! Namely, for example, actively promoting a culture of conversation that gives employees and managers the opportunity to talk about feelings without being ridiculed or marginalized. To continue to insist that feelings do not belong in everyday business life is no longer appropriate.
DO NOT ACT AGAINST, BUT WITH EMOTIONAL PERCEPTIONS, HOW SHOULD THAT WORK?
Training employees in the perception of feelings before they find their way through physical expression is a key to this. And yet we learn to integrate feelings into everyday business life instead of suppressing and excluding them! Let’s learn to name them without shame and shyness:
“I’ve had a sleepless night so I feel tired and insecure and don’t know if my contribution to the meeting today will be solid. My fear is that we could make a mistake here and that worries me. “
“Quite frankly, I would like to have more influence on this project. It would give me the opportunity to show that I deserve recognition. I’ve been missing that for some time and the anticipation would motivate me! “
“I am not enthusiastic about this new proposal. This change calls everything into question and that unsettles me, even annoys me.
It is time that such sentences become possible in our companies, instead of feelings having to be repressed until the only way out is withdrawal. Naming feelings clearly by their names is authentic, saves time, brings clarity and creates relief. It gives companies a kind of seismographic early warning system before human and economic damage occurs. One can become aware of the feelings by carefully tracking them down, giving them space and expression and by showing presence when someone has the courage to express feelings. This includes that superiors and colleagues allow them in their communication and deal with them responsibly.
If you would like to learn more about how a manager can promote a corporate culture in which emotions can play a role, please do not hesitate to contact me. I am looking forward to hearing from you.
Photo: edward-kucherenko/unsplash.com