Contagious Leadership
Do you know why companies put people on gardening leave when they resign or are let go? Yes, partly because they may take or reveal sensitive information (but let’s be real, if they were going to do that likely they have already done it). Really it’s because these companies are aware of contagious emotion. One person who feels very negative about a workplace can very quickly become the source of a lot of discontent, so companies get them out quickly.
In our brain we have parts called ‘mirror neurons’. Mirror neurons are brain cells that activate not only when we perform an action but also when we observe someone else doing it. They literally copy the behaviour that they see, hence the name. When someone around us is behaving in a certain way, they mirror that behaviour, whether we want them to or not. It’s how we understand empathy, social bonding and language. When I was younger people told me I had the same mannerisms as my sister. I spent a lot of time around her even though we didn’t live together. Why do couples start to do the same things, close friends etc. This is why you need to be aware of who you spend your time around.
When we look at the news these days it seems to be full of hate. Sections of society all set against one another when there’s no need for this at all. Part of this is emotional contagion. I read an interesting article a few weeks ago that said, we are not meant to be aware of the news in other areas to our own. We are designed to be focused on our local environment and then to be strongly tied emotionally to it. We do not have an ability to be able to absorb all the negativity from around the world. When we are affected it lowers our ability to focus on our own lives. It makes us feel overwhelmed and hopeless in the face of changes we cannot stop. Our wellbeing, problem solving and creativity all stop as we go full on into a fear state. Fear states are black and white – are you, or are you not, a threat.
What we are seeing is a world level contagious emotion. High levels of emotional stress have pushed millions of people into a fear state and then they repeat the cycle. Remember how I said, that mirror neurons are there to mirror other people’s feelings. What is being mirrored, is hate. Social media is terrible for this as you cannot see the other person you are speaking to, therefore empathy is not engaged, you cannot see the upset that your words may have caused.
What has all this to do with leadership?
You are visible to your team, your family, your friends. You have the power of contagious emotion on your side.
As Gandhi was mistakenly reported to have said ‘be the change you want to see in the world’. If you want to have a calmer, more focused, collaborative team, model that to them. If you calm your top leadership team they will pass this down in a cascade effect. Model in meetings that you are calm, empathetic and that there is a safe structure in place to keep everyone safe, both emotionally and physically.
Leadership is no longer just a keyword for self-development. It’s a very real, very urgent skill that is desperately needed.