While theoretically understood, to our peril we practically ignore this knowledge, and make poor decisions (think Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards).

With all the global uncertainty leaders are facing of late, the ability to navigate emotions has become all the more paramount when making decisions. Whether we like it or not, we are emotional beings and 95% of our behaviour is automatic (scary!) – and because emotions are a ‘fogifier’ and obscure clarity, as leaders we need to more consciously and purposefully practice The Art of ‘Emotional Self-Regulation’.

Emotional Self Regulation is a KEY leadership capability – perhaps THE most important one. When we let our emotions dominate us, we make poorer decisions. And because emotions come first followed by thinking – we need to make space to THINK so that our passion does not overwhelm us, and others. A healthy balance of emotions AND thinking offer the best outcomes.

Below is a powerfully simple 5-step approach to ensure our minds do not get hijacked by our emotions in our decision-making process (extreme hijack example – Will Smith). And these ‘simple’ 5-steps does not mean easy – much practice is required.

STEP 1 – BE AWARE of the emotion (stop, observe, breathe …).

STEP 2 – NAME IT because when we shift our attention from the emotion to naming it, we experience the emotion in a different way – Naming It starts to pull the rug from under the reactive emotion.

STEP 3 – ACCEPT IT is perhaps the most challenging skill to learn – seeing the emotion as something in the room with you, and separate from you, and then just ‘being with’ it further pulls the rug out from the reactive emotion.

STEP 4 – DO NOTHING is about making space to stand back, examine your emotion … and think. It can be as simple as counting to 10, or taking a few deep breaths …

STEP 5 – DECIDE what leadership behaviour(s) will create the best climate for the desired results, or outcomes.

For a change, I purposefully went low tech and drew the image below and the process proved to be more fun than I expected. What do you think of the drawing? 🤣