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Traditional leaders did not seek to honor feelings. In fact, for decades, leaders saw feelings as a weakness in the workplace. Logic, commitment, hard work, and sacrifice were king! Well it’s decades later now and the nature of work and the workers have changed. Leaders must engage employees ideas, creativity, and commitment. And to do that they must honor feelings to lead morale. Here’s how.

Leaders, Honor Feelings to Engage Employees. Image by Allen Allen via Flickr Creative Commons License.

image by Allen Allen via Flickr Creative Commons License.

Leaders, Honor Feelings to Engage Employees

Feelings are a part of who your employees are. When you honor their feelings, you show respect that is essential to employee morale. If you are picturing long involved emotional moments that steal time from results, change your image. That’s not the issue. All employees know that they must get work done.

Your focus needs to be on recognizing the positive emotions that get things done AND being considerate of their feelings in tough times.

How to Honor Feelings

1. Acknowledge the feeling and its impact. If your employee is excited that their new idea is being implemented, celebrate it with them. This is far better than saying “that’s what we’re paying you for.”

2. Recognize when an employee is struggling. Ask how they are feeling. “If you need a listening ear, let me know.” These moments can prevent a small problem from growing into a bigger one that blocks results.

3. Accept different personality types express feelings differently. So often leaders minimize amiable and expressive types because they express more emotion than analytic and driver types. But remember, that morale is not built on results. It’s built on respect and dignity. When you make any employee feel less than others, you are crushing teamwork.

4. Address disrespect between teammates. Watch for cliques, passive aggressive bullies, and mavericks who do whatever they want. What happens between teammates affects results. If some are running over other’s feelings, address it.

5. Create a culture of respect for feelings and results. This culture embodies individual accountability for the impact each has on others as well as team commitment to results. It’s not only doable, it’s essential! It’s very different from a culture where people think “I’m not responsible for how you feel.”

Obstacles to Overcome

• Knowing yourself. Write down your view about feelings at work. Look at it. Are you being honest with yourself? To create the culture, you must believe it.

• Being honest with care not blunt and boorish. Honor feelings and respect employees and honor feelings every time you speak. Check your language for blunt statements that inflict scars. Be honest not blune.

• Accepting that logic and emotion are not opposites. They both have value and they co-exist. Think about how passion drives creativity and innovation. Logic alone won’t do that.

Replace the age-old view that emotion is a weakness. Stop expecting employees to be emotionless workers. Show them respect and honor their feelings. You will lead morale and the whole team to great results.

Related Posts:
What Powerless Feelings Do to Employees & Customers
Personality Types Impact Employee Engagement
Leaders, Risk of Mislabeling Issues as Just Personality Conflicts

©2022 Kate Nasser, CAS, Inc. Somerville, NJ. I appreciate your sharing the link to this post on your social streams. However, if you want to re-post or republish the content of this post, please email info@katenasser.com for permission and guidelines. Thank you for respecting intellectual capital.

Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™, delivers coaching, consulting, training, and keynotes on leading change, employee engagement, teamwork, and delivering the ultimate customer service. She turns interaction obstacles into interpersonal success. See this site for workshop outlines, keynote footage, and customer results.

Tags: emotional intelligence, employee engagement, employee experience, Feelings, honor, interpersonal skills, Leadership, leading morale, people skills, Soft Skills