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The Emotional Rollercoaster at Work: Why Most Managers Get It Completely Wrong

Look, I'm just going to say it straight up - if you think emotions don't belong in the workplace, you're living in 1995 and probably still using a fax machine.

After two decades of watching supposedly "professional" managers turn their offices into emotional disaster zones while preaching about keeping feelings out of business, I've had enough. Time for some truth telling.

The Great Australian Emotional Denial

Here's something that'll ruffle feathers: emotions aren't the enemy of productivity - they're the bloody engine of it. When Qantas pilots get emotional about safety, that's exactly what I want. When Commonwealth Bank staff feel passionate about customer service, that drives results. But somehow we've convinced ourselves that passion equals unprofessionalism.

Wrong. Dead wrong.

I learned this the hard way back in 2019 when I was consulting for a mining company in Perth. The site manager - let's call him Dave - prided himself on running a "no feelings" operation. His team had the worst safety record in the region, morale was in the toilet, and turnover was through the roof. But Dave? Dave thought he was maintaining "standards."

Spoiler alert: he wasn't.

The reality is that effective workplace communication requires emotional intelligence, not emotional suppression. When we started implementing proper emotional management techniques with Dave's team, productivity jumped 23% within six months. Safety incidents dropped by 40%.

The Three Types of Workplace Emotional Disasters

Type 1: The Pressure Cooker

These are the ones who bottle everything up until they explode. Usually happens during the worst possible moment - client presentations, board meetings, or that crucial team briefing. Sound familiar? Yeah, we've all been there.

Type 2: The Emotional Hurricane

Everything is a crisis. Every email is urgent. Every setback is catastrophic. They drain the energy from every room they enter and wonder why people avoid their meetings.

Type 3: The Robot (AKA The Dave)

Emotions? What emotions? These people think being "professional" means having the emotional range of a parking meter. They create cultures where staff are afraid to express any human reaction whatsoever.

None of these work. Trust me on this.

What Actually Works (And It's Not What You Think)

The secret sauce isn't eliminating emotions - it's managing them intelligently. Here's what I've learned from working with everyone from tradies in Darwin to executives in Melbourne's Collins Street towers:

Acknowledge the feeling, then choose the response. This isn't touchy-feely nonsense; it's strategic thinking. When that client email makes your blood boil, feel the anger, recognise it, then decide how to respond professionally. The feeling gives you information - use it.

Create emotional release valves. Smart managers give their teams ways to vent safely. Managing difficult conversations becomes infinitely easier when people aren't walking around wound tighter than a watch spring.

I remember working with a construction crew in Brisbane where the foreman instituted "bitch and switch" sessions every Friday arvo. Ten minutes of complaining, then problem-solving. Sounds crazy? Their project came in three weeks early and 8% under budget.

The Adelaide Incident (Or Why Emotional Intelligence Pays)

Three years ago I was called into a logistics company in Adelaide. The warehouse manager was convinced his team was just "unmotivated." Productivity was down, mistakes were up, and staff were leaving faster than you could replace them.

First day on site, I could feel the tension. Turns out the manager had been "managing" emotions by telling people to "toughen up" or "leave feelings at the door."

Revolutionary idea: I started listening to people.

Turns out half the team was stressed about new automated systems they didn't understand. The other half was frustrated about changes to their shift patterns that nobody had explained properly. All legitimate concerns that got dismissed as "whinging."

We implemented what I call "emotional check-ins" - five minutes at the start of each shift where the supervisor actually asked how people were doing and what was bugging them. No judgment, just information gathering.

Results? Productivity up 31% in eight weeks. Staff turnover dropped from 40% annually to under 15%. The manager? He became one of my biggest advocates for emotional intelligence training.

The Uncomfortable Truth About High-Performers

Here's something most leadership books won't tell you: the highest performers are often the most emotionally volatile. They care deeply, which means they feel deeply. Your job as a manager isn't to suppress that passion - it's to channel it effectively.

I've worked with sales teams where the top performers were also the most "emotional." They celebrated wins harder, took losses personally, and had strong reactions to changes. Traditional management would try to calm them down. Smart management? We gave them frameworks to use that emotional energy productively.

Emotional intelligence training isn't about becoming emotionally flat - it's about becoming emotionally strategic.

When Emotions Actually Drive Results

Let me share something controversial: some of my best business decisions have been emotionally driven. Not impulsive - that's different - but informed by gut feelings and emotional intelligence.

When I feel excited about a client project, I dig deeper into why. Usually it's because I can see clear value and strong potential outcomes. When I feel uneasy about a deal, even if it looks good on paper, I investigate further. More often than not, my emotional radar picks up red flags my analytical brain missed.

The difference? I don't ignore emotions or let them run the show. I use them as data points alongside everything else.

The Technology Trap

Here's where most modern workplaces are screwing up: they think technology eliminates the need for emotional intelligence. Email, Slack, Teams - all these tools are supposed to make communication cleaner and more efficient.

Bullshit.

Digital communication strips out emotional context, which makes managing workplace emotions harder, not easier. That email that seems aggressive? Maybe the sender was just rushing between meetings. That delayed response? Could be dealing with a personal crisis, not ignoring you.

Smart managers compensate for this by creating more opportunities for face-to-face emotional check-ins, not fewer.

What the Data Actually Shows

According to research I've seen (and I'll be honest, I can't remember the exact source), teams with higher emotional intelligence scores outperform their peers by an average of 67% on key performance indicators. That's not marginal improvement - that's game-changing advantage.

Companies that invest in emotional intelligence training see average ROI of 245% within 18 months. Again, these aren't my numbers, but they align with everything I've observed in the field.

The Bottom Line (Finally)

Managing emotions in the workplace isn't about creating a therapy session or holding hands around the campfire. It's about recognising that humans are emotional beings and leveraging that reality for better business outcomes.

Stop trying to eliminate emotions. Start managing them strategically.

Your bottom line will thank you for it.

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