Corporate Culture Change Begins And Ends With Employees Emotions

By Author: John Schinnerer
Total Articles: 2
Comment this article

Human emotions are among the top reasons for thwarted attempts to improve employee productivity and corporate culture. For example


Fear: Doubt and anxiety paralyze attempts at change in the office.


Anger: Culture changes are sabotaged due to intense resentment and long-standing grudges. Failed projects begin to build due to residual anger and internal sabotage between executives.


Sadness: Resignation and despair thwart attempts to improve productivity, sales, and ongoing improvement.
Without a legitimate and thorough understanding of the emotions of your workforce, you are at the mercy of their irrational moods.


In his book, Developing the Leader Within, John Maxwell looks at the critical difference between character-driven people and emotion-driven people....


"Character-driven people...


Do right, then feel good.

Are commitment driven.

Make principle-based decisions.

Let action control attitude.

Create momentum.
...
... br /> Continue when problems arise.

Are steady.

Are leaders.

Emotion-driven people...


Feel good, then do right.

Are convenience-driven.

Make popular decisions.

Lett attitude control action.

Wait for momentum.

Quit when problems arise.

Are moody.

Are followers."


Maxwell makes an interesting yet false dichotomy. It is common mistake. In truth, every one of us is character-driven AND emotion-driven.


The emotional brain (which is associated with the amygdala) has been in existence in human beings for 5 to 10 million years. On the other hand, the rational brain (which is associated with the prefrontal cortex) has only been around for roughly 50,000 to 1 million years.


The emotional brain has been through thousands of revisions and is nearly perfect in its ability to keep humans safe and act as a general guidance system (e.g., approach vs. avoidance). The emotional brain is faster than the rational brain and can hijack the rational brain when danger is sensed. 'Danger' is based on individual perceptions and can differ widely based on the individual's framework.


The rational brain is still in the earliest stages of revision on an evolutionary scale. It is fallible, prone to mistakes in thinking, and can be overpowered by the emotional brain in a matter of .33 seconds.


Without doubt, we are all a combination of the rational and emotional minds. The difficult tricky part is teaching the rational and emotional sides to work together in cooperation so as to increase the bottom line and allow for constructive change and financial rewards in the workplace.


To this end, I've spent the past twelve years developing research-backed tools to teach managers and groups to manage their emotional mind. This is a two-fold process.


It is not enough to merely turn down the volume on negative emotions such as anxiety, anger and disappointment.


For true success in your professional and personal life, you must also learn to turn UP the volume on positive emotions such as awe, pride, curiosity, interest, relaxation, happiness and laughter.


My discovery is that merely learning to manage the negative emotions is necessary but not sufficient to increase employee productivity, cooperation, teamwork and innovation. Positive emotions serve to broaden and build. Positive emotions enable us to think outside the box, to act in new ways, to create and innovate.


Thus, it's one thing to deal with the negative emotions in your workforce. It is much more productive to learn ways to cultivate the positive emotions which will spark new ideas and facilitate new, more productive behaviors.


Dr. John Schinnerer is an in-demand speaker, author, thought leader & executive coach. He is an award-winning author ('Guide To Self'). His blog 'Shrunken Mind - Using Positive Psychology to Master Life' is among the top 3 in positive psychology on the web. Dr. John hosted over 200 episodes of Guide To Self Radio, a prime time show, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Dr. Schinnerer's areas of expertise range from positive psychology, to emotional awareness, to moral development, to elevating corporate culture. He is located in the beautiful San Francisco Bay Area.