The Executive Edge: Emotional Intelligence and Emotion Regulation at Work

The Executive Edge—a quarterly newsletter from Michigan Ross Executive Education—provides insights and expert analysis on key global business challenges and trending topics. In the latest issue, Ross Professor Ethan Kross describes why emotions are information rather than "good" or "bad", and how emotion regulations can affect team dynamics.

You describe emotions as information, rather than being “good” or “bad”. Why is this distinction important to make as workers report higher levels of “negative emotions”?

It’s an important distinction because we often equate negative emotions with states of mind that we should avoid at all costs, as though they’re intrinsically harmful. This viewpoint is embodied in the toxic positivity movement that has proliferated in recent years. Science shows that all emotions, including negative ones, have value when experienced in the right proportions—not too intensely and not for too long. They offer valuable information, motivating us to deal effectively with our circumstances. For example, anxiety alerts us to focus on important tasks, while anger indicates that our values have been challenged and an opportunity to rectify the situation exists. The key is to find the sweet spot where these emotions aren’t too intense or prolonged; this is where science provides us with a guide. It teaches us about the tools I call “shifters,” which help us skillfully manage our emotional lives.  

How can an individual’s ability to regulate emotions affect team dynamics?

Emotions create a "ripple effect," quickly spreading among individuals and groups. This ripple effect can have either desirable or undesirable consequences, depending on both the emotion that’s spreading and the circumstances surrounding its proliferation. People who understand how to manage their own and others' emotions can effectively channel this ripple effect, much like a conductor directing a symphony to achieve their desired outcomes. From both a human and leadership perspective, this is an invaluable skill.  

Your newest book, "Shift: Managing Your Emotions—So They Don't Manage You", addresses the timeless question of how to manage your emotional life. What are some of the tools from your research that can help employees regulate emotions during stressful workplace interactions?

A key theme of "Shift" is that there are no one-size-fits-all solutions for managing our emotions. Instead, we've learned that many tools exist, and different tools work for different people in various situations. In the book, I organize these tools (I call them “shifters") into two broad categories. First, there are internal shifters that you carry with you, such as Sensory Shifters (engaging in different sensory experiences, like listening to music or smelling different scents, to influence your emotions); Attention Shifters (tools for directing your attention towards or away from things that are generating undesirable emotional responses); and Perspective Shifters (techniques for broadening your perspective to change the way you think and, consequently, the way you feel). Then, there are external shifters, which are resources for managing emotions in the world around you. These can look like Space Shifters (changing or modifying your environment to achieve a desired emotional outcome); People Shifters (leveraging the influence of others to impact your emotions positively when you're struggling); and Culture Shifters (creating cultures that promote emotional regulation by shifting values, norms, and practices to help you manage your emotions). In my book, I review how to activate these different internal and external shifters to find the unique combinations of tools that work best for you.

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