Listen

Take a read of this first. Each letter and phrase will have a short post exploring what I've rediscovered, the potential impact on organisations and what it means for me.

L - Listen to my emotions and body

Emotions can be my body asking questions I haven’t paused to hear.

Remember to feel and name emotions. Pause to learn what triggers, sparks or quietens them.

Recognising how I’m feeling about a situation, a meeting, a person, an organisation is critical. It creates a pause, a chance to reframe - rather than an automatic response. It’s not about removing emotions - it’s giving them the right time and power.

Not realising you're pretending to be fine is exhausting and I can get habituated to how my body feels. That's a simple nod to how things sometimes felt during the Covid-19 waves when work and delivery was on/off campus for two years. Whilst that time has passed it's not to be forgotten.

So what?

Ignoring or denying emotions may feel safer and easier but that’s artificial and unsustainable - especially after the last few years.

Teams may talk about technical debt in your organisation. There's also emotional debt and half-done discussions. What unresolved conflicts are in the foundation or infrastructure of your organisation? Unnamed or unacknowledged emotions will be impacting decisions and behaviours - not always positively or in ways we would expect.

Are you a manager who makes unpredictable decisions or rushes too quickly making them? Do you or your teams over-react or lose sight? That could related to low emotional well-being or not being able to prioritise time to pause and listen.

Emotions aren't necessarily problem. It's a problem when they aren't listened to. We should name and understand quantitative data as it informs decision so we should (at least) recognise our emotions - including when it's joy, anger or fear in the pit of your stomach.

What’s next for me?
Maintain my journal and think out loud on paper. Name any positive and negative emotions. Keep growing my digital garden and the one outside my back door. Continue my (nearly) daily walk. Embrace my emotions in all their joyous messiness. Regularly pause to feel what my body is telling me.

This is simply listening to my emotions and body. Other posts will take this forward.

L is for 'Listen to my emotion and body' and it also informs my work. The next letter is E and that’s coming as next Spring will start to grow. These are my contact details if you'd like to talk more and subscribe details are below.

Image by mindandi on Freepik