Excessive "emotional labor" in charge may harm the team! Harvard expert: "voicing your grievances" at work can actually help improve performance
No matter how busy or tired you are at work, you still have to suppress your emotions! The “emotional labor” that executives often ignore
A child protective services office manager woke up one morning to learn that a mother they were counseling had killed her child the night before and then committed suicide. This was the most horrific accident they had ever encountered. He hurriedly dressed for work and focused on the most important thing at hand, which was to put aside his own emotions for the next few hours and focus on helping employees deal with their emotions.
The incident highlights one of the most difficult tasks of a leader. Leaders’ responsibilities often include projecting a bright future during a company’s tough moments or continuing to move forward with optimism, even if they have doubts about the company’s strategy.
This necessarily requires some elements of acting, which means suppressing certain emotions and presenting others to the outside world. Sociologists have long called this workplace performance “emotional labor”: managing your own emotions to fulfill the expectations of a job role. Although this research tends to focus on the emotional challenges faced by frontline workers. For example, even if you face rude customers, you still have to “serve with a smile”, but as a leader, you also need to manage your emotions like this.
Is emotional labor “contagious”? Excessive suppression may harm both health and performance.
One reason why leaders engage in emotional labor is that emotions are contagious in a group, and leaders are especially contagious to team members. The more positive the leader’s mood is, the mood of the members will be the same, and their performance will improve. If a leader is in a bad mood, that negativity can spread throughout the team and drag down performance. The reason this sentiment spreads is that people naturally attach more importance and attention to the most powerful person in the group. This rule of thumb applies to the CEO, other C-suite executives, and all the way through the organization, including front-line leaders on the team.
More than ever, today’s leaders are being asked to perform emotional tasks, such as being aware of the impact of their work on employees’ physical and mental health, while balancing company profits and losses. This requirement for compassion and consideration applies not just to their team, but to themselves as well. Leaders’ emotional burden comes at a cost: They run a higher risk of burnout or ill-health themselves, not to mention a hit to their own productivity. This need for emotional labor may be a hidden factor in the high turnover rates in leadership positions.
“High emotional intelligence” determines the leadership of managers! Expert: Pay more attention to the emotional needs of subordinates
Leaders can fall victim to the stereotype that they must be “tough,” and are therefore reluctant to reveal doubts, anxieties, or frustrations—anything that might be viewed as a sign of “weakness.” This is especially true for leaders who are women or people of color, who may feel they have to work harder than their peers to be equally recognized and role models for their teams. Studies have found that in some situations, women and people of color face negative consequences for expressing emotions, but white men do not.
It is worth mentioning that research has found that leaders who are willing to admit human weaknesses are more likely to pay attention to and respond to the emotional needs of their subordinates. Having the courage to admit your own emotional limits will allow others to feel comfortable expressing their emotions.
The emotional labor requirements of leaders mean that they must be aware of their own emotions in order to manage them well, and they must also feel the emotions of people around them and handle their relationships well. In short, this adds yet another reason to improve your leaders’ emotional intelligence. Improving emotional intelligence can effectively mitigate the consequences of emotional labor for leaders, including loneliness, resentment, and their own poor performance, not to mention health and emotional problems.
For example, leaders themselves may not be aware of the burden of suppressing their own feelings and fabricating bright prospects. Today, psychology suggests that this inner repression can undermine a leader’s ability to control themselves, leading to scolding or disrespectful criticism. In order to cope with their inner uneasiness, some people will drink alcohol or vent negative emotions generated at work at home.
Things business schools won’t teach you! Is it okay to “vomit bitterly” at work?
Business schools do little to prepare MBA students for their emotional toll. On the other hand, organizations can step in and create a safe space where leaders can freely express their emotions: “It’s okay to be not okay.” One experiment found that meeting regularly with fellow leaders to confide personal and professional distress in a confidential setting not only reduced this emotional stress, but also improved participants’ emotional intelligence.
Overall, helping leaders improve their emotional intelligence allows them to acquire skills that make them more able to cope with the challenges of emotional labor. Emotional intelligence is most important in leadership positions that require handling your own emotions and the emotions of those you work with. The Harvard Business Review article points out that the need for leaders to perform this type of emotional labor has increased, prompting organizations to help senior executives and managers better face their emotional world. We warmly appreciate this insight.
Further reading:
