If ever there was a case from our practice that argues against the need for pure, rational thinking, it’s this one. Perhaps not every manager needs to be a creative genius, but most managers, at some point, have to think differently. This is where your ability to use emotions to facilitate the right kind of thinking fits in. And this is the ability that Alison, a marketing manager, didn’t have. Although Alison was in marketing, her focus was more on sales than on marketing, per se. She was an upbeat person with strong social skills; she was intelligent and possessed good analytical skills. Alison spoke eloquently about her feelings. She evidenced a lot of insight as well, except when it came to certain negative feelings. When the conversation turned to these feelings, she would become uncomfortable and change the subject. Alison tried really hard to seem cheerful and pleasant. Although Alison was comfortable feeling and expressing positive-emotions and optimistic thoughts, she could not allow herself to access negative emotions, especially embarrassment, guilt, and shame. She actively fought against those feelings. There was another surprising side to Alison: she had trouble generating creative, new ideas. She was very grounded, practical, and concrete and did not value imagination. For a compassionate and insightful person, Alison did not have a lot of empathy for people she called “complainers” and “whiners.” She said that they had no excuse for focusing on the negative aspects of their lives. Alison’s ability to facilitate thinking by using emotions was weak. She did not want to, and perhaps was unable to, generate emotions, experience them, and use them to help her think, process information, make decisions, and feel empathy for people. That may be fine with Alison and perhaps with some managers, but being closed off to emotion is often reflected by a rigid thinking style.
لطفا منتظر باشید ...
