Courageous leaders take responsibility for their emotions

What an amazing week or so I have had and some incredibly powerful personal learning. I have come to recognise the importance of courageous leaders taking responsibility for their emotions. Because what many of us are confronted with everyday in the workplace is the "games people play" with emotions! Presently we are seeing many workplaces ruled by fear and insecurity. I have read several articles in respected daily newspapers claiming the return of the tyrannical boss who rules by fear and demands control and respect through aggressive behaviour. And a very dear colleague of mine shared with me a simple and yet profound framework for how these emotions play out:

PERPETRATOR...........VICTIM..............RESCUER

Think about your everyday life and start to watch how you play out your emotions under one of these guises. And it does not have to be this way if you decide to take responsibility for your emotions and use them constructively.

Faciltiating a recent leading change workshop allowed me to challenge the group of participants with this framework - and especially during times of change it is easy sometimes to play the victim - and blame those awful perpetrators for the way you are feeling!!!!!

Start to notice how you play your emotions out and look for the times you OWN your emotions and assert them constructively - and reward yourself for taking such responsibility! Courageous leaders certainly take responsibility for their emotions - try it out for one full day and see how you go - no blame and no taking on the role of perpetrator, victim or rescuer!