E-Mail and Emotions

E-Mail and Emotions

By linda linklink   11:12 PM   No comments:

Theory of the Day - People like e-mail because they are emotionally "cold" (this also goes for text messages). Because so much of emotionally significant communication is carried in tone and body language e-mail is both dangerous and safe for people. Safe, or at least the illusion of safe, as less resonance occurs than face to face. This means that less desirable messages (I'm thinking of people cancelling appointments at the last minutes for example) can be sent without feeling the reaction of the person being dumped/fired/ generally shat upon. A more positive side of this is that people have time to edit "toxic" thoughts into more constructive ones. Even this however is dangerous as authenticity may be lost.

The main danger is that e-mails are no less "emotional" in their impact and because of the lack of clarity around tone may be easily misunderstood (which is why the much maligned smileys were invented :-) For me, e-mailing difficult message shows a lack of courage or concern. If you deliver an unpleasant message by e-mail you will pay for it in the long run in damage to task, relationship and your own integrity. Don't be a coward - deliver emotional messages face to face or at least by phone - it will save you a lot of trouble in the long-run. If this is too scary and idea it may be time to develop your emotional intelligence, personal leadership and ability to handle stress.

Read More

Nobel Prize Winners on Emotion

Nobel Prize Winners on Emotion

By linda linklink   8:14 AM   No comments:

Nobel Prize winners on emotions (from Newfield-more here):

Shirin Ebadi (Nobel Peace Prize, 2003)“It is very difficult to think that a change in Iran can be produced because people are scared and prefer to maintain, when they must risk their lives and those of their family. The fear is much greater than anybody can imagine. Any person who wants to fight for human rights in Iran must live with fear in their body from the time they are born until the time they die. But I already have learned to surpass it."

Jorge Luis Borges (Buenos Aires, 1899-1986)“It is not possible to contemplate without passion. He who contemplates dispassionately does not contemplate.”

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)“The basis of optimism is sheer terror."

Plato (Greek dude) "All learning has an emotional base."

Read More

What is Mood?

What is Mood?

By linda linklink   7:35 AM   No comments:

What is mood? This may seem like an obvious question but think about it. Mood is immediately apparent in a company or a family- and whether we want to spend time in a place depends upon its and our mood. Moods are both individual, collective, geographically linked (e.g. Brighton feels very different from London) and historical (the mood in the recession is different from a few years ago). Mood underpins effective action and coordination in business, intimate relationships, in fact any aspect of life - and yet mood it is ill defined and not addressed by much training, development and coaching.

Influenced by training at Strozzi Institute and with Newfield (see video below) I differentiate between moods and emotions. The latter happen in response to a stimulus (e.g, I'm unhappy because the sun isn't shining today) and the former occurring over longer time frames (think of a friend with a "sunny" disposition whatever the weather). Moods occur in the body and limit or expand our options. A definition of mood that bears this in mind is: "A physical predisposition for action" - Richard Strozzi Heckler (after Fernando Flores I think).

I've found individuals and organisations moods to be a crucial factor in whether they are succeeding or failing, and in whether any training succeeds or fails. Here are some challenges relating to working with moods.

Mood is invisible from the inside
People live "in" their mood like fish live in water and our own moods are largely invisible. We constantly broadcast our own mood and pick up on other's (often unconsciously) which is a little scary if you don't know what you're broadcasting. "Explicit" conversation about mood can be very threatening to people not used to having them and the word alone can put people off if not used with care (e.g. the negative connotation of "moody")

Moods are bodily
Most training is cerebral in nature so finds it difficult to address moods which exist in the body. Of course Embodied Management Training is an exception :-)

Moods are tough to shift
Changing someones emotion is relatively easy - just give them a cake or kick them in the shins. Sadly moods are much harder to shift. Repeated practices over time and embedding someone in a community with a very different mood are two ways that work well. A critical realisation in coaching can work but a shift in cognitive understanding alone is often not enough.

In Conclusion some questions: What is your mood? What does it predispose you towards? How are you addressing mood in your organisation?

Read More

Language and Feelings

Language and Feelings

By linda linklink   11:05 AM   No comments:

Study highlighting the connection between language and feelings.

"Psychologists Francesco Foroni from VU University Amsterdam and Gün R. Semin from the University of Utrecht conducted two experiments to see if emotion and feeling language has an influence on facial muscle activity. In the first experiment, a group of students read a series of emotion verbs (e.g., "to smile," "to cry") and adjectives (e.g., "funny," "frustrating") on a monitor, while the activity of their zygomatic major (the muscle responsible for smiles) and corrugator supercilii (which causes frowns) muscles were measured.

The results showed that reading action verbs activated the corresponding muscles. For example, "to laugh" resulted in activation of the zygomatic major muscle, but did not cause any response in the muscles responsible for frowning. Interestingly, when presented with the emotion adjectives like "funny" or "frustrating" the volunteers demonstrated much lower muscle activation compared to their reactions to emotion verbs. The researchers note that muscle activity is "induced in the reader when reading verbs representing facial expressions of emotion."

Read More

Julio Olalla Videos

Julio Olalla Videos

By linda linklink   4:30 AM   No comments:

Here's a couple of Julio Olalla videos. Julio is the founder of coaching organisation Newfield. In these videos Julio speaks on the OAR model, moods and emotions in coaching.

Read More