The levels of people struggling with their mental health are increasing, crisis follows on top of crisis, the effects of the COVID pandemic linger still … It is becoming increasingly clear that ignoring people’s struggles, mislabeling them as something else or reacting to these developments rashly are some leader’s out-of-date ways of inadequately handling today’s complex world. Putting more pressure on a population for an increased level of sick leave when individuals are still reeling from the pandemic and struggling to get to grips with countless crises will only further acerbate the situation.
What may have worked in the industrialisation and post-industrialisation world are now wildly inappropriate tools. The effect of one of the leaders I witnessed doing this by shouting down a whole room full of supplier representatives every Friday, was, tragically, felt by him. We no longer live in a world where businesses can afford to work with the results delivered by teams put under too much pressure and not given enough freedom to be innovative.
If leaders want highly innovative results from highly performing teams in a highly complex world, they need to create an environment where this is possible.
A business coach can help leaders achieve psychologically safe environments for high performing teams. Leading in today’s world requires emotional intelligence and the ability to regulate one’s emotions. Screaming at people out of fear or anger will not improve their work ethic, results or teamwork. It will do the opposite. And yet, these practices still seem to linger in the dark recesses of some businesses. Leadership is often described in terms of strength, determination and fearlessness. When what is really meant is leading through anger, fear and with pressure.
Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of places where strength, determination and fearlessness are appropriate and needed, in leadership and without. What is not needed is the toxic distillation of these things that can be found in highly hierarchical, patriarchal and ultra-traditional status-oriented systems. Does that mean leadership is all about the ‘nice stuff’ and not about addressing mistakes honestly? Not at all, as anyone who has had anything to do with radical candor will tell you. (More about radical candor another time.) A business coach can work with leaders and organisations in order to establish emotional regulation and radical candor as a leadership competences.
Research has shown and increasingly underlines that emotional regulation is one of the most critical skills distinguishing effective leaders from ineffective ones.
Here emotional regulation relates to the ability to monitor, evaluate, and modify intuitive emotional reactions in ways that support goal-oriented behavior (Gross, 1998). Emotional regulation is particularly important when operating under pressure. From a neuroscientific perspective, leaders constantly operate under pressure.
What happens ins stressful situations:
- Stressful situations activate the amygdala.
- The amygdala is the brain’s threat-detection system.
- The activation of the amygdala can impair judgement and increase impulsive behaviour.
What does emotional regulation do in stressful situations?
- Emotional regulation helps engage the prefrontal cortex.
- This area is responsible for planning, reasoning, and self-control.
- Emotional regulation allows leaders to respond rather than react (Ochsner & Gross, 2005). This capacity is essential in moments of conflict, uncertainty, or crisis.
Research shows that leaders who regulate their emotions effectively foster
- greater trust,
- psychological safety,
- and performance in their teams.
Goleman (1998) found emotional intelligence accounts for a significant portion of leadership effectiveness.
Particularly at senior leadership levels emotional intelligence, which encompasses emotional regulation, is key.
When leaders manage frustration, anxiety, or anger constructively, they model emotional norms. This modelling of emotional regulation is essential to creating a psychologically safe organisation culture. Emotional regulation is also a skill leaders can grow and hone with the support of a business coach.
What else does emotional regulation do?
It positively affects decision-making quality. Studies in behavioral science demonstrate that unregulated emotions can bias risk perception and judgment. These biases can lead to overly cautious or excessively risky choices (Lerner et al., 2015). Leaders who are aware of their emotional states and apply regulation strategies—such as cognitive reappraisal or attentional control—are more likely to make balanced, ethical decisions.
What isn’t emotional regulation about?
And what is key to know here is that emotional regulation is not about suppressing emotions. Suppression has been linked to increased stress and reduced authenticity (Gross & John, 2003). You can find examples for these effects above, at the intro to this article. Instead, effective leaders acknowledge emotions, understand their source, and channel them productively.
By cultivating emotional regulation, leaders enhance resilience, improve relationships, and create environments where both people and performance can thrive.
And isn’t that what everyone wants? If you want to enhance your emotional intelligence, strengthen your emotional regulation, get the support of a business coach, like me. Get in touch. I look forward to speaking to you.
References
- Gross, J. J. (1998). The emerging field of emotion regulation. Review of General Psychology, 2(3), 271–299.
- Gross, J. J., & John, O. P. (2003). Individual differences in emotion regulation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(2), 348–362.
- Goleman, D. (1998). Working with Emotional Intelligence. Bantam Books.
- Ochsner, K. N., & Gross, J. J. (2005). The cognitive control of emotion. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9(5), 242–249.
- Lerner, J. S., et al. (2015). Emotion and decision making. Annual Review of Psychology, 66, 799–823.
