How Showing Emotions Builds Individual and Team Resilience...How Showing Emotions Builds Individual...
Transcript of How Showing Emotions Builds Individual and Team Resilience...How Showing Emotions Builds Individual...
SEARCH
tel. +44 (0)203 031 2900
CHALLENGE US MY FAVOURITES ACCOUNT LOG OUT
HOME ABOUT IDEAS LIBRARY IDEAS BY INSTITUTIONS
Home Ideas Library How Showing Emotions Builds Individual and Team Resilience
10.13007/327
Ideas for Leaders #327
How Showing Emotions Builds
Individual and Team Resilience
Key Concept
Individuals who have a close relationship and teams that are built on trust are
more likely to have the resilience to bounce back from setbacks. New
research shows that ‘emotional carrying capacity’ — that is, the freedom to
constructively express more emotions, both positive and negative — is the
mechanism through which closeness and trust builds this resilience.
Idea Summary
Virtuous organizations are organizations that create an environment in which
everyone works for the good of all: employees, customers and the community.
There will be challenges and setbacks, however, and the ability of managers
and employees to overcome these challenges in ways that help them learn
and grow is essential to sustaining the virtuous organization.
Being virtuous helps. For example, people who can hope and forgive can
overcome disappointments and failure better than people who hold grudges or
live in fear. While virtuousness enables resilience, a team of researchers from
Case Western Reserve University, Boston University, Tel Aviv University and
the University of Michigan sees the process in reverse: resilience enabling
virtuousness. You’re more likely to be forgiving if you have the strength and
fortitude to learn from the hurt caused by another.
Where does resilience come from? Previous research shows that
interpersonal relationships hold the key: individuals who have close
relationships with others, and teams whose members have trusting
relationships with each other, are more likely to be resilient. In their research,
the team identifies the link between relationships and resilience. The answer
lies in the concept of ‘emotional carrying capacity’ or ECC. ECC is the ability
and freedom to express one’s emotions — specifically the freedom to:
express more emotion overall
express both positive and negative emotions,
express that emotion constructively
The researchers conducted two studies, one focused on the relationships of
individuals and the second focused on team relationships. The studies were
based on surveys and questionnaires sent to staff employees of a large
university (for the research on individuals) and to members of top
management teams of 500 Israeli firms (for the research on teams).
The results of the studies clarify the important role that ECC plays in
translating a close relationship among individuals and trust among team
Authors
Stephens, John Paul
Heaphy, Emily D.
Carmeli, Abraham
Spreitzer, Gretchen M.
Dutton, Jane E.
Institutions
Case Western Reserve University
Boston University School of Management
Tel Aviv University
University of Michigan Ross School of
Business
Source
Journal of Applied Behavioral Science
Idea conceived
March 2013
Idea posted
February 2014
DOI number
Subject
Interpersonal Skills
Team Building and Teamwork
Emotional Intelligence
members into resilience to adversity and setbacks.
When two individuals have an open and supportive relationship, they are
willing to express their emotions freely — both negative and positive — and in
a constructive manner. At the team level, a foundation of trust is required for
team members to be willing to show that same type of vulnerability to other
members of the team. Team members must feel that all the members of the
team want to understand and respond to each other’s needs and concerns.
Why is the expression of emotions so important to building resilience to
adversity? The researchers offer a number of reasons:
Suppressed emotions undermine an effective response. Under stressful situations, two
individuals or the members of a team must be able to discuss and work through differences.
Especially with teams, resentment and other simmering negative emotions can bog down the
effectiveness of the team just when more sustained commitment and effort from everyone is
required.
ECC provides the information needed for resilience. Expressing emotions helps others
understand how a person is truly reacting to an adverse situation, and enables them to
respond in the most helpful and constructive manner.
Positive emotions broaden the response while negative emotions signal the need for
a response. Both positive and negative emotions enhance the response to adversity. Positive
emotions open up possibilities for responding to the situation. “Maybe we can try this.” Negative
emotions can sound the alarm, which can be equally important to finding timely solutions. The
researchers note that both positive and negative emotions balance the downsides of the other.
Constructive expression of emotions enables learning. Learning from adversity can only
result from expressing emotions in a constructive manner. Incivility or overwhelming others with
one’s emotions does not inspire the support and cooperation that people need to find
solutions. When expressing emotions constructively and receiving the help they need,
individuals will regain a sense of control over the situation, which in turn helps them be more
resilient.
Business Application
Through their studies, the researchers show that expressing emotions is not
just another tool in the resilient toolbox that individuals or teams can use to
battle adversity. Instead, the constructive expression of positive and negative
emotions is the key mechanism that explains why trust and close
relationships lead to greater resilience.
Based on this research, business leaders and managers can take several
steps to build up resilience in their organizations:
Encourage and enable face-to-face meetings. Organizations should
encourage the expression of emotions by providing time and space for face-
to-face meetings; emotions are not just communicated through words but also
unconsciously expressed through facial expressions and postures. Face-to-
face meetings are key to enabling people to fully express their emotions —
and for others to understand them. Virtual meetings can be effective in some
ways, but face-to-face meetings are required for individuals and team
members to truly feel connected.
Model the sharing of emotions. Second, organizational and team leaders
should take the lead on modeling the expression of emotions. Employees and
direct reports should see them express both positive and negative emotions.
The expression of negative emotions may go against the common wisdom of
staying positive, but the researchers believe that through such expression, the
leaders are validating the negative emotions of the others in the organization.
The result, according to the researchers, is that leaders are creating a culture
that allows vulnerability and open communication.
Provide training on the constructive expression of emotions.
Encouraging more emotional expression can actually be more harmful if such
expression is disrespectful and uncivil. Incivility in the workplace is at all-time
high, reflecting the dangers of negative emotional expression. Individuals must
be trained in more frequent and less intense expression of positive and
negative emotions; this will lead to more openness, more understanding, and
less build up of negative feelings.
Further Reading
Relationship Quality and Virtuousness: Emotional Carrying Capacity as a
Source of Individual and Team Resilience. John Paul Stephens, Emily D.
Heaphy, Abraham Carmeli, Gretchen M. Spreitzer & Jane E. Dutton.
Journal of Applied Behavioral Science (March
2013) DOI: 10.1177/0021886312471193.
Further Relevant Resources
John Paul Stephens’s profile at Case Western Reserve University
Emily D. Heaphy’s profile at Boston University School of Management
Abraham Carmeli’s profile at Tel Aviv University
Gretchen M. Spreitzer’s profile at University of Michigan Ross School of Business
Jane E. Dutton’s profile at University of Michigan Ross School of Business
Ross School of Business Executive Education profile at IEDP
© Copyright IEDP Ideas for Leaders 2014
About
About
People
IEDP
Partner Institutions
Legal
Terms of Use
Privacy
Disclaimer
Cookies
Help
Subscribe
Help
FAQs
Contact
Accessibility
Follow
Google+
Site by Deeson