Emotions are data. They are data that help us better understand ourselves and our relationship with others. By understanding ours and others emotions, and learning how to manage and regulate emotions, we can develop more meaningful relationships at work. In this video, I will review some foundational information that will help you understand why emotions matter in the workplace. And how you as a leader, by gaining a better understanding of emotions can connect more effectively with your team and lead with authenticity. Let's start with why emotions are important. Why do we consider them data? According to the American Psychological Association, emotions are defined as complex reaction pattern involving experiential, behavioral, and physiological elements. By which an individual attempts to deal with a personally significant matter or event. Or perhaps more succinctly, emotions are a state of feeling and they involve subjective evaluations of a particular event. When we think of emotions, we often name some of the most common ones. Research has generally supported the idea that there are six primary emotions, happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, anger, and surprise. But recently published research in the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences noted up to 27 varieties of emotional experience beyond those six, including things like craving, contempt, envy, sympathy, and triumph. Emotions influence our decision making and our behavior, which is why they are important in our interactions. Emotions have often been dismissed as not professional or not relevant to a work environment. However, what we are learning is that emotions can tell us so much more about what we are experiencing, and therefore, they can help us understand others. So when we say emotions are important to understand in the workplace, what we mean is that emotions are additional data that can help us effectively navigate our professional lives. Something you have likely heard of with respect to emotions in the workplace is the concept of emotional intelligence. Defined as a type of intelligence that involves the ability to process emotional information and use it in reasoning and other cognitive activities. Emotional intelligence has been studied for at least a couple of decades, and during that time, there have been various conceptualization of the topic, and different perspectives on what it is, how it works and whether it's effective. Some see emotional intelligence as an inherent trait, something we're born with, others see it as an ability or a skill, something we can develop. Regardless of how we conceptualize emotional intelligence, we have learned enough about our emotional processes that we can develop a better understanding of our socio-emotional experience. And this means we can become better at working with using and understanding emotions in the workplace. In the early 90s, two researchers, John Mayer and Peter Salovey, reported that some people seem to demonstrate enhanced abilities when it came to dealing with emotions, recognizing them in themselves and others. They coined the term emotional intelligence, and subsequently developed a research program on emotional intelligence including creating validated psychometric measures. Mayor and Salovey's framework for emotional intelligence includes four elements. The first, identifying emotions in the self and others. The second, integrating emotions into thought processes. The third, effectively processing one's own complex emotions. And four, regulating one's own emotions. A name you might be more familiar with is that of Daniel Goleman. Who came across Mayor and Salovey's work, and with permission, used the term of emotional intelligence and popularized the concept through his New York Times bestselling book in 1995. Goleman's model of emotional intelligence differ slightly from Mayor and Salovey's in that he identifies five elements to emotional intelligence. Self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. There are many other researchers who have explored emotional intelligence using various models. And because of this, there is disagreement about which models are the most rigorous or psychometrically valid. Regardless of that disagreement, what we can agree on is that learning to observe, understand, manage, and regulate emotions in ourselves and others is an important part of the human relationship process. And one that is helpful for leaders to understand and explore. Overall, what we are talking about is socio-emotional learning, understanding our emotions and how we can use that knowledge to build more effective behaviors and relationships. And while the research evidence is mixed on the effects, we do have evidence to suggest that leaders who are better able to manage these emotional processes are more transformational, come across as more authentic. And have the potential to develop more trusting and meaningful relationships with their team members and employees. Emotions are data, and it is up to us as leaders to consider the information that our emotions reveal about us and those around us, to facilitate effective relationships at work.
