“Working with Eric was a pleasure. We developed a good rapport and established a level of honesty and trust. I valued his counsel and recommendations. I find Eric to be very competent in a variety of disciplines. He is able to correctly diagnose organizational problems and suggest solutions that are on point. I found Eric to be a professional with the highest levels of honesty, integrity, and ethical behavior. I would not hesitate to engage his services again in the future.”
Kathy Lueckert,
former Corporate Services Director,
Department of Planning and Development,
City of Seattle
(Kathy is now Director of Planning and Finance for Advocacy and Communications at World Vision.)
“I've worked closely with Eric on developing and presenting the Leadership Eastside community leadership program. He has that rare blend of extensive real-world experience along with a very strong background in theory and research. He moves easily between big picture strategy and the tactical details. Eric brings a superb ability to plan, execute and follow-through, both as a behind-the-scenes planner and as an upfront instructor and facilitator.”
Annalee Luhman,
founding board member,
Leadership Eastside
Conflict and change: The blog
20 June 2008
Emotions have no place at work
Can you remove emotions from the workplace? Should people just park them at the door when they come to work?
A workshop participant last week seemed to think so. I flatly told him that there is no way to keep emotions out of work. We can work to manage emotions, individually and organizationally, but the total eradication of feelings is absolutely, positively impossible. (That wasn’t the answer he was looking for.)
For many years, most of us had been told that emotions had “no place” at work. You put up and shut up. Get your work done. My favorite spoof of this school of thought was Dilbert’s boss saying, “Job satisfaction amounts to stealing from the company.”
More enlightening thinking these days acknowledges that emotions are in the mix when you’re dealing with human beings. We all got ‘em. Feelings have a big impact on how we make decisions. For better or worse, feelings guide all our behavior at work.
That doesn’t mean that we should be controlled by our feelings. They can often lead us astray. We create most of our feelings through how we perceive and interpret people’s actions, as well as the world around us. And, as most of us know, our perceptions and interpretations are often incorrect.
On the other hand, a big part of showing respect to other adults in the workplace is by allowing them to have their feelings and treating people with respect. This increases trust and morale. And, that can make a big difference in getting the work done. So, dealing well with emotions affects the bottom line.
And, of course, acknowledging and working with our own emotions is essential for mental health and strong personal relationships.
In short, we’ve got to work with our feelings and those of others, regardless of whether we think we should have to. Besides being a fact of life, successful management of emotions can even improve the organization’s performance.
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