Dr. Michael Gervais

So again, I've got to know the person.

I've got to understand the context.

But I've got to work within myself to make sure that I'm working my emotions rather than emotions working me.

And as somebody in a position of leadership,

that context is really important.

You know, as soon as you get frustrated, it kind of sends ripples that are not necessarily advantageous for people to perform better, but it does shift their physiology and tightens them up.

Sometimes that's a good thing.

Sometimes tightening up the physiology in people is a good thing.

Sometimes it's too much and the aperture shuts down and people are like, again, they feel like choked off to their ability to think clearly.

I would say not controlling emotions.

I would say working with them.

So emotions are a little bit like the elephant and you are the rider.

And when an elephant, an emotion in this case, wants to run, it's going to run.

So I think working with emotions rather than controlling them is how I frame that.

That's right.

And you as a leader need to know, be artistic with how much tension, how much not.

Like we need tension.

We need tension to have that right kind of diamond expressing thing.

Too much tension, we crush the coal.

Not enough tension, we never get to the diamond.