Breaking the Chain of Emotions and Attitudes

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Developing your leadership art includes reading and writing. Yes, writing. Written communication is one skill that many leaders struggle with. The only way to get better at it is to just do it. Sometimes what we write (or say for that matter) isn't what we meant or isn't received well by others.  Fortunately, we can get better. This forum allows you a safe place to test your blog writing skills with a little assistance on the side :)

Today's blog comes from a follower. This follower choose to share the post without names attached because s/he does not want it to be commentary on particular individuals or a particular land management unit.

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Breaking the Chain of Emotions and Attitudes

Emotions and attitude can propagate through an organization or chain of command through the same channels that are used to pass information. The non-verbal communication that occurs with the exchange of information can have a significant impact on the performance of a team. Think about the difference between a situation where trust and enthusiasm are being communicated along with decisions versus one where frustration or apathy are accompanying the very same information. The amplification of emotions through an organization is often unconscious, but need not be. Each person, no matter what his or her position in the organization, can choose what attitude he or she is passing through the channels of communication. 

At some point while in a previous position, an individual high up in my local organization changed the tone of his communications to include frustration, impatience and an implied lack of trust. These emotions grew as they came down the chain of command and by the time they got to me, I was surprised at their intensity. At that time, I made a deliberate choice to break the chain of emotion, while keeping the chain of command. When I turned to those who report to me, I gave them the information coming through the chain of command, but I chose to give them with trust, patience, and respect. If I knew that I was too angry, frustrated or hurt to put those feeling aside when interacting with my people, I let them know. That way they were less likely to mistake the frustration coming from above as my personal frustration with them. While, in this case, it was not enough to change the organization, it was enough that I could be the leader I wanted to be for my people regardless of the quality of leadership higher in the organization.

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