34: Trust Yourself to Feel At Work

How many of us have been told to "tone it down" at work? How many of us have bought into the old cliché that, "the consummate professional is cool, measured, calm, and reserved." We call B.S. At the Inside Job Podcast we believe that emotions are important signals and that we can be trusted to learn to use them well.  Emotions can lead individuals, and their organizations, to be more human and more effective. The work that needs to be done is to learn how to notice one's emotions, regulate the natural reaction/response mechanism, and make a wise choice about how to use emotions in the most productive way. Rarely will that ever involve a throat punch, to Eric's dismay. Nayla highlights the dangers of suppressing our emotions and dehumanizing ourselves at work (plus, all that suppression is exhausting!). Instead, we need to learn how to understand what we're feeling – and why – and choose to dial up and dial down our emotional responses to match the moment. Eric talks about how the philosophies of Stoicism and Mindfulness are misunderstood and misapplied. Rather than using these tools to disguise or eliminate emotions, we talk about how to use them to recognize what's triggering our emotions and make conscious choices about how to respond, regulate and react. We believe that we are at our best as humans when we embrace all of the richness and complexities or our existence – including our emotions. Feelings are going to happen and they're incredible sources of information. The key is to learn how to manage and use your emotions, rather than letting them use you – which is at the heart of the Inside Job.   Inside Job is brought to you by Nayla Bahri and Eric Johnson.   To learn more about us and our work, visit www.insidejobthepodcast.com or email us at [email protected].   To learn more about the ideas and resources discussed in this episode, check out our show notes.   Let's connect! Instagram Facebook   We'd love to hear from you.