We recently had the pleasure of hosting Professor Donald E. Gibson for our Emotions@Work Learning Series. As the new Dean of Saint Mary's School of Economics and Business Administration and formerly the Dean of O'Malley School of Business at Manhattan College, Professor Gibson brought a wealth of knowledge about workplace emotions, conflict management, and mentoring.

This event was a rare opportunity to learn from Professor Gibson's deep knowledge of emotions at work. He shared some great insights on how emotions like anger can be both helpful and harmful, giving us useful guidance for building healthier emotional cultures in our organisations. We dove into emotional contagion, measuring emotion, expressing authentic vs. strategic emotions and more.

Conversation Highlights:

When is Anger Helpful?

Anger can be a powerful emotion, especially in an organisation where the culture allows for open expression. If people feel they can express some level of anger, it can be more...

Seriously scientific! We're at an inflexion point in the evolution of our community (and business). People who do serious science are seriously interested in our sanely simple game. So we're now bringing even more serious and comprehensive science to it.

On the surface, our game might not seem serious or even scientific. Even calling it a 'game' might lead people to believe that it's not serious. We're serious about it. We have over a thousand ECD Practitioners and Consultants around the planet who are serious about it. The impact of the tools and methodologies we use is serious. Now, other people who do serious science are also serious about what we're doing.

We feel ecstatic, proud, and humble to say we're partnering and collaborating with Michael Parke, Assistant Professor at Wharton Business School, to officially study the impact of affect labelling and The ECD at work. We...

Update from Jeremy originally posted in our Elephant Rider Community here >

How Our Community Shapes the Future of Emotional Culture

Hi everyone, I've got some exciting news to share! We're teaming up with Professor Michael Parke from Wharton for a special research project, and we're inviting you to be a part of it. We’ve been in discussion together since he came into our Community earlier this year to share his research on voicing negative emotions at work (see more here if you missed it)

What's this research all about? We're researching the impact of our ECD workshops (specifically affect labelling) on employees, their leaders and their teams.

Here's the scoop: To make this study happen, we need to work together as Elephant Riders to run a series of workshops over the next four months. We're aiming for a minimum of 100 participants across all workshops, whether that comes from many small teams or a few larger ones. This flexibility means whether you're working with a...

In a recent interview with R&E Founder Jeremy Dean, Professor Michael Parke from the Wharton School provided some fascinating insights into the role of emotions in the workplace. His thoughts offer a refreshing perspective on how emotions, often considered a workplace taboo, can actually be a force for good in fostering creativity, teamwork, and overall employee well-being.

Here are the key takeaways from the conversation.

1. The Power of Affect Labeling

Parke emphasised the importance of 'affect labelling', a process of articulating negative emotions at work. "When people are able to voice things like frustration or anxiety... it can actually be seen as credible and help managers understand and address the underlying issues," he stated. This approach challenges the traditional notion of keeping negative emotions under wraps and highlights how acknowledging them can lead to constructive outcomes.

2. Creating an Authentic Emotion Climate

Another significant insight was the need...