How can you manage emotions that interfere with critical thinking?

In my experience of the senior leaders’ personal and executive coach, many of the bright minds have hard time identifying (baking) emotions. To help open up their emotion “inner door” and to expand the “emotions vocabulary” - the first step in any learning - I offer them a great tool - the Emotion Wheel. Step 1: realize the core 6 emotions and be able to simply name and feel them. Step 2: realize that emotions come like a lie or a pizza, or a bouquet, if preferred: they are never exclusive, so it is important to feel them all, and to feel the relative dominance of them in the moment (a useful way is to assign % of the pie) Step 3: move on- directing our thoughts to an action (and taking emotions along as our passengers, not drivers)

Take a breath and evaluate your emotions. Think about how you would receive this specific emotion if it was toward yourself. Think about how it should and could feel for the other person. Zoom-out. See if you would have these emotions in the morning or at a fresh start after a vacation.

It's so True. Expressing emotions is vital for our well-being. But remember, emotions can cloud our clarity. Combine emotional expression with critical thinking to find a balanced perspective. And, it doesn't have to be verbal expression always, Art, like painting, is a powerful outlet for emotions. Yet, dwelling on dark emotions in art can reinforce negativity. Transitioning to brighter colors and strokes can symbolize a journey to optimism amidst challenges. Let's not just express; let's also think and grow. Balancing emotions with critical thinking shapes a holistic approach to emotional management.

Just as we rely on facts and data to guide logical conclusions, emotions provide critical insights into our internal states, signaling potential risks, opportunities, and needs that might not be immediately apparent through pure logic. By acknowledging emotions as data points, we can integrate them with empirical evidence, leading to more holistic and nuanced decisions that account for both rational analysis and human experience. Think of journaling. It is a way of reflecting and sorting out our thoughts, but it also provides – personal - historical data that can help us understand our own emotions, recognize how they have influenced our decisions, and, importantly, guide us on how we can best deal with those moments in the future.

Emotional intelligence and critical thinking often go hand in hand, yet we treat them separately a lot of the time. Within a work environment, critical thinking can become limited due to many conflicting value and moral systems coming into play all at once. Because we as individuals may consider our values, it doesn’t mean the company value system may be aligned. This in itself is a challenge that also affects innovation. From my experience, micromanagement is a major issue that affects both emotional intelligence and critical thinking. In light of this I would often recommend that teams have discussions on critical thinking during the project lesson learnt session, with representatives from external departments present to add perspective.