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Good Morning Thinkers!
Archive: June 26, 2000

Emotions in Business Summary

We got a number of responses and praise for last week's "Wake-Up" on the topic of emotion in business, but readers may not have realized that we had a guest writer. Innovation Network's Marketing Director Andrea Woodward gets the credit for bringing up a subject that touches a nerve so to speak. If you missed it, go to:
http://www.thinksmart.com/wakeupbrainarchive/jun192000.html

Here are the responses:

From: Roger Breisch, Founder, Midwest Organizational Learning Network, REBreisch@aol.com
Everyone wants employees motivated and inspired. Well, motivation and emotion come from the same root, as do inspiration and spiritual. I often make the point that you cannot be truly motivated and inspired unless there is an emotional and spiritual (NOT religious) relationship to the work. I know that's true for me.

From: Bill Hodges, Bill@BillHodges.com
Emotions at work--risky business. If a man is emotional at work he is suspect and if a woman does it she just verifies all the old stereotypes. It takes bravery to exhibit emotions at work and as Piglet said, "It is hard to be brave when you are a very small animal in a very big world."

From: "Anne Durrum Robinson", anniecreate@hotmail.com
I find a tell-tale sign of this reluctance to combine feeling and much of anything else when I am teaching Mind Mapping. I almost have to horse-whip folks (figuratively speaking) to get them to record feelings on their mind maps. Yet in Ned Herrmann's brain dominance charts one whole quarter of the brain is given over to FEELING. And one outstanding South American theorist believes that most thought enters by way of the limbic or feeling brain. I agree with Asacker that making an emotional connection between people (and even between people and things) is essential for business success.

From: Steve Lundin, ChartHouse International, SLRUNNER@aol.com
I used to have the nickname "the rock." As you might imagine I was a bit buttoned down. I wish I could say that I worked my way to a more open life but in fact it happened one day when my soul made a break for freedom. A false life fell apart and the one life I can truly call my own emerged. Passion and openness, for me, is a byproduct of the choice to live wholeheartedly.

From: BeckRipley@aol.com
How ironic that this book came out about the same time as one by a friend of mine with a similar title: Lessons from the Sandbox by Dr. Alan Gregerman. I highly recommend Alan's insightful comparisons using the 13 gifts of childhood to rediscover the keys to business success. Great minds do think alike!

From: peewit@mindspring.com
You might like reading Morrie Shectman's book, The Internal Frontier, Creating the Personal Transformations That Lead To Success.

In the book and in his work, Morrie talks about the "familiar" we all create to keep emotions under check. Just as your mother told you "not to wear your heart on your sleeve" when she heard about the boy next door, she gave you other messages to help keep you emotions under control. They worked then and now. We all have them and they are not good or bad, they just are. We need to recognize that they are there and that they make up our "familiar." But I will let you read the book on how to deal with them and how to change if you want to.

Keep up the good work!

From: Das Menon, MMenon9018@aol.com
Nice article!
Here is a little story:
The little boy had torn up the map to pieces
The family was ready to go on vacation.
The anxious father asks "Now how can you put it together, son ?"
The boy says "It is easy dad.. if the man is together all will be OK"
Sounded very profound indeed.
Obviously the boy had a man drawn behind the map !

Two simple (and ancient) ideas that will put it all together:

1) It is all about people (guide for work)
2) Empathy is the way (guide for spirituality)

1. All things are done by people for people. Value (money) is also created by people, not the other way around.
2. Empathy is the "Gold" in the golden rule. Empathy is the basis of love from which emanates all other emotions and the spiritual principle of self sacrifice.

Yes, modern industry needs a bit of Eastern wisdom.

From: James Harris, jamesh@wrq.com
What are the signs you see that indicate whether there is openness, or not, to talking about emotion in organizations today?

We have several conference rooms that have big huge windows into common areas where I work. You can see people in meetings without hearing what is going on. I find it very interesting to observe the body language in these meetings. I've observed that the groups that are on the edge of being dysfunctional, their body language is very formal and you can see that people are picking their words or trying to keep emotional distance. I was kind of surprised to see lots of hands over mouths as people sat around the table. From my hallway perspective it looks like work.

The converse is very interesting to observe to when watching groups that are functioning well meet. You see lots of relaxed body language with people lounging around in chairs. Some are leaning forward while others are leaning back but everybody is taking things in. You also see lots of hand waving and people jumping up and going to the white board. There are smiles on people faces and you often see them smiling. In short ... they are playing.

What is one thing you might do today to bring more of your emotional self to work?

Being an emotional person myself I have to remind myself that I need to hold my passions in check (just a little -- if you do it too much then you are not being passionate) so that others will be willing to open up. When we are throwing out thoughts and playing with new things I don't mind telling others that the idea that I had 30 seconds ago doesn't sound that good now or be honest and say that I'm thinking out loud. Its also important to laugh ... I've found laughing at myself is a very liberating thing and also opens others up to be willing to share more and not 'play it as cool'.

I think a key to bringing positive emotions to work like passion, love, and play are to be honest. Kids are very honest with themselves and each other. Just listen to them talk sometime and you will be reminded how cool it is to not 'play it cool'.

OK ... I'm getting passionate myself here and I'll get off my soapbox now. :) Thanks for letting me share.

From: "Douglas D. Germann, Sr.", 76066.515@compuserve.com
Great one this time. Thank you.

From: Lori Lockhart, Lori.Lockhart@mail.sprint.com
Our team feels the emotional connection to our work and each other and we're not afraid to show it or talk about how we feel. In today's fiercely competitive world, you need to form that kind of connection/ bond with your team members inside your company to really come together and make the impossible seem possible. Words like passion, caring, trust, fear are all emotional words and are used in the workplace today.. ...why?? because those emotions ARE in the workplace today ( and yesterday- but in the past many have been afraid to share feelings.) Until you are able to be open with each other, many of the internal barriers remain ( egos, fear of taking risks, bureaucracy, power struggles) Our team has broken through that barrier and realize without the help and support of each other.. none of us are successful..We often joke about "holding hands and jumping" into a situation where there is risk- but together we work through it.

Companies talk about bringing your "whole" self to work.. and once you do- wonderful things happen!!!!

I recommend another good book" Managing from the Heart"- Written by Hyler Bracy, Jack Rosenblum,Aubrey Sanford and Roy Trueblood.

From: "Swisher, Curtis (CN)", CNSWISHER@dow.com
This is so timely. I was conversing with a colleague yesterday who was uncomfortable with my use of the word "passion" relative to employee motivation in a business setting. She wanted me to use a less zealous term like "interest" in my upcoming presentation to a project team. I initiated a project last year to identify the finest career assessments available and bring them into the company. Identifying employee passion (what I call the personal bull's eye) along with values, skills, and Myers-Briggs type are the objectives.

It was an interesting experience selling this project to HR! People could not understand why a process research engineer would start such a project outside his "own field". The answer is passion. Imagine what kind of world we would have if everyone were working on their passion for the benefit of others. What motivation, what creativity, what productivity - everything a business wants, but doesn't know how to tap in their employees.

Passionate people make things happen. But they are rare in corporate settings where cool, detached, objective decision-making are valued. Passionate people threaten status quo. They initiate change (often from outside the department). They shake things up. They aren't easily deterred.

"Let's make a buck" versus "let's make a difference" is the norm in corporate life. After all, that's the shareholder's scorecard for management. They don't get it - those who make a difference get the bucks in the long run.