Your boss’s feelings matter too

“Senior business leaders are often considered to be above emotions. But the ones they have, and how they express them, matter. Michael Matthews and Dawei (David) Wang assess the impact of emotions on bosses, their colleagues and the organisations they run, and recommend that leaders work on their “emotional scripts”. Leaders are often portrayed as rational actors who have ascended the organisational chart, placing themselves beyond day-to-day experiences, troubles and events. Per this narrative, leaders do not have “real” emotions, or those emotions are limited to those which are in line with organisational imperatives: pride for success and frustration with failure. Or, alternatively, emotions are a distraction and are otherwise messy, meant to be sidelined in favour of more executive functioning that can directly drive the bottom-line. Our review of 101 academic articles on leader state emotions paints a different picture. Although leader emotions are often overlooked, they can have important downstream consequences – both for the follower and the leader themselves. For example, one study explored how emotional regulation predicts leader emergence. Similarly, when others around you (such as leaders) express anger, research suggests this can lead to an escalation of commitment where people continue down a poor path, presumably because an environment where people often “blow up” can cause others to fear the consequences of changing course. Clearly, emotions matter, even for leaders. Although our research paper focused more on academic theories, scientific techniques and broad findings of the literature, it also has lessons that apply to forward-thinking professionals. We unpack the double-edged sword of emotions, the importance of authenticity, and then introduce the idea of leader emotional scripts. The double-edged sword Emotions are often sorted into “good” and “bad” categories. Although there is variation between cultures, people generally want to experience joy not disgust. But emotions can have a double-edged sword. For instance, leaders’ moral anger is positively correlated with punishing misconduct. But anger can also create issues, such as when anger is related to abusive supervision. Along these same lines, another study reported that negative leader emotions is positively associated with followers work engagement, but it also positively related to family undermining, where employees treat their families at home with less respect. In other words, emotions are not always linear in their effect and can have mixed outcomes (good and bad). There are many types of emotional experiences that leaders can experience, ranging from gratitude to bewilderment . But there is a reason that emotions are often labeled as “messy”. Leaders should not only be critical thinkers when it comes to cognition (such as weighing the pros and cons of a merger), but also critical evaluators when it comes to the effect of emotions at work (like considering the multiple effects of expressing frustration). Emotions in the workplace can have both a “bright side” and a “dark side,” and it is not always as simple as “good” or “bad” emotions causing “good” or “bad” outcomes for the organisation. Rather, leaders need to cultivate emotional agility to be able maximize benefits and minimize the costs of emotional expression. Authenticity matters False information is often frowned upon, which also applies to emotions. In fact, there is a whole theory on “emotions as information.” As this concept would suggest, leaders need to be careful that they are sending reliable information. For example, one study showed that when executives appeared happy (as opposed to sadness) when apologising for corporate wrongdoing, that negatively impacted the company’s stocks. Another study reported that emotional sincerity is related to how much followers trust their leaders. This point on authenticity may be even more relevant today than it was historically. Natural observation suggests that in the past emotional expression was less common, both at work and in general. However, the work force is increasingly dealing with emotions, such as rising rates in anxiety and depression. Although some tactics to manage emotions are likely ineffective in the long run, one practical step that leaders can take is to ensure they are being authentic when expressing emotion. Indeed, authentic leadership is considered a unique leadership style, with many purported benefits. Leaders should review their emotional scripts As the name implies, “scripts” are cognitive frameworks about how to respond in a particular situation. Just like a drama in the theater, leaders should consider themselves as actors. Leader emotional scripts guide how people respond to a situation, such as taking a deep breath when learning of a subordinate failure or practicing saying “I can see where you are coming from” when in a disagreement. In other words, leaders can plan their emotional responses ahead of time, providing more stability. The idea of leader scripts is especially important for leaders because they are often bombarded with situations that have higher stakes. Indeed, it is often leaders who must deal with some of the most vexing problems such as misconduct, failure and turnover. Taking the time to think ahead or to reflect on past experiences can help leaders avoid “losing their cool” or failing to express other-oriented emotions, such as sympathy, when it is needed. For those interested, leaders can receive training for their emotions, which can improve leadership effectiveness. Zooming out, we agree with the idea that emotions are not just noise , but they can be valuable data points. Whether leaders are simply reflecting on their own emotions, observing the states of followers, or even using cutting-edge technology to track emotions, awareness and intentionally can improve leadership. For leaders, this can be a source of competitive advantage, or, sometimes, it can simply be reassuring to recall the wisdom of a childhood song: “you feel what you feel, and those feelings are real.” This article gives the views of the author, not the position of LSE Business Review or the London School of Economics. You are agreeing with our comment policy when you leave a comment. Image credit: Ollyy provided by Shutterstock. The post Your boss’s feelings matter too first appeared on LSE Business Review .

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