How to regulate your emotions as a leader & foster psychological safety in your team

Hi from Gudrun Lind,

Emotions are contagious, especially in leadership.

When chaos hits, people turn to the leader who remains calm.?

That's self-regulation, the skills that help you steer your emotions rather than allowing your feelings to steer you.?

We’ve all been there - the struggle to manage emotions is real. You have probably also experienced being led by someone who couldn’t contain their feelings.

It affects the entire atmosphere.?

Have you attended a meeting where someone expressed intense frustration or anger??

And it’s not only about negative emotions.

Overexpressing positive emotions can also have a negative impact.

Let’s take it a step further.

What about EQ?

It’s not only about emotions. It’s also about the thoughts that precede them and the actions they lead to.

This is where Emotional Intelligence starts to matter.

EQ involves not only the ability to understand and manage your own emotions but also to recognise and influence the emotions of others.

Self-regulation plays a crucial role in developing your EQ.

Instead of?

? losing your temper

? letting impulses take control

? reacting

You can

?? stay calm under pressure

?? avoid impulsive decisions

?? respond with composure

It’s about all those little moments during the day when you face an intense conundrum:

Debate or regulate?

Impulsive or deliberate?

The decision is often made instantly.

That’s why you need to work on your Emotional Intelligence intentionally and develop self-regulation mechanisms to put them into practice when the circumstances call for them.

It only takes a few seconds to create a mess you will regret later.

Here are 5 key strategies to improve your self-regulation abilities.

Self - regulation & psychological safety

Constantly working on your emotional self-regulation can, in turn, positively affect the team you lead and the work environment in which they operate.?

For example, trust. Trust is an emotion, not a command.

Your team members need to trust you so you can trust them.

Trust and collaboration are not a given.

There's one thing that can foster both: safety.

If your team members feel safe and protected, they will reciprocally make you feel safe and protected.

It all comes down to psychological safety.

Without it, your team members will have to spend most of their resources to feel safe and protect themselves (against dangers, risks, or other adverse situations).

What if I told you that taking care of your team is one of a leader's top priorities?

Simply ask yourself:

"If I had to sacrifice something to protect them, would they do the same for me when needed?"

The answer is YES.

If you, as a leader, go the extra mile and sacrifice something (e.g., numbers), they will also sacrifice something to cover you when the time comes.

Fostering psychological safety requires an open-minded approach fueled by mutual care.

Discover how mutual trust and care between a leader and their team is similar to parenting and why you should adopt a similar approach to lead your team

What's next?

Join my 'Weekly Reset' newsletter, where I dive deeper and offer even more actionable leadership insights and personal stories—to help you step back, reset, and thrive in complexity.??

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