Do you lead up or down?
by Miki SaxonPost from Leadership Turn Image credit: danzo08
No matter your position, if you’re one of the go-to people then you need to know about “emotional contagion” and how your moods affect those around you. Although much of the research has focused on emotionally negative or positive bosses, it’s actually leaders, whether bosses or not, who have the most impact.
Yup, now there’s proof for what all of us who’ve been exposed to “glass half empty” people already know—negative emotions, especially in leaders, can bring a group down faster than bad ventilation during flu season.
So if you’re a person of influence you need to stay aware of your own mood. Sure, it’s difficult to be upbeat when you walk out of a meeting with an enraged client, or a design review for a project about to go over budget or a difficult review, but if you don’t, you’ll bring down the rest of your team and that’ll blow off the entire day (or week or even longer).
Overcome your mood using a simple approach that I first learned from a book by Napoleon Hill more years ago than matters. He said, “Think, act, walk and talk like the person you want to become and you’ll become that person,” and “Act enthusiastic and you’ll become enthusiastic.”
Put them together and you have an unbeatable, simple, solution for keeping your own morale and, as a result, the morale of your team, positive
and productive.
The approach may seem simplistic, but oft times simple is best. After all, you’re not trying to solve the cause, but to mitigate the effect.
How do you deal with a bad mood?
Your comments—priceless
June 30th, 2008 at 7:04 am
I have a tendency to seclude myself when my mood drops. And then just brood for a while. If that’s not an option, I try to slide away for a few minutes and at least try to get my mind to relax and up to a neutral point so I’m not a drag on everyone else. The unfortunate part is that I don’t always catch my low mood until it’s either too late for the day or after I’ve seen it “infect” other people.
Noticing my mood before it becomes an issue is where the real problem is. I don’t want to be a downer to the group, but catching it is difficult.
June 30th, 2008 at 10:31 am
Hi Luke, It is hard to build mood awareness, but you’re already miles ahead of all those who don’t even realize/don’t believe that attitude is contagious.
In terms of catching mood early, I’ve found that it’s easier to stay conscious of my facial muscles, wrinkled brow, smile, frown, etc., than my actual moods—the muscles react long before I’m aware of what’s affecting them.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Miki you’re a genius. This is one of those, “I knew that, but I’d never have thought of applying it” moments.
The yoga classes I take focus on relaxing the muscles so we can be calm, so paying attention to when they tighten up would be a pretty easy indicator that something is amiss.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
True:) Glad the tip’s of use, the obvious often zips right by us.