As a seasoned fleet professional, you’re familiar with this leadership principle. But it can be easy to forget when you’re under pressure, dealing with budget constraints, internal conflicts, regulatory uncertainty or even personal challenges.
The principle: Your mood is contagious. Whether you’re calm or chaotic, your mood spreads, impacting your team’s morale and performance.
Wearing your emotions on your sleeve might feel good in the moment. You might even believe it’s healthy to let it out. “After all, I’m just being my authentic self.”
But you’re the boss. If you feel insecure, overwhelmed, stressed, discouraged, angry or hurt, deal with those emotions in a healthy way. Get them off your chest with a mentor, partner, peer or someone else you trust. But don’t dump them on your team.
Why? Your emotions hit them much harder. Your team members are naturally attuned to your emotional cues because their success and daily experience depend partly on your approval and decision-making. This creates a heightened sensitivity to your moods. What feels like a minor frustration to you can register as a major threat to them. They’re reading between the lines of every interaction, trying to gauge their standing and job security.
This is where practicing emotional intelligence comes in – but not in a way that comes across as being fake or suppressing all negative emotions. It’s about intentional emotional leadership. Sometimes teams need to see controlled urgency, appropriate concern or even measured frustration to understand priorities and the gravity of situations. The key is choosing which emotions serve the team’s needs rather than expressing whatever you happen to be feeling.
Your feelings are valid and human, but as a leader, you must manage how and when you share them in ways that serve your team’s ability to do their best work.
So, no matter what you’re feeling, if you want your team to perform at their best, “infect” them with the emotions they need to succeed, such as calmness, confidence, eagerness and empathy.
Start each day by checking your emotional pulse. Are you projecting confidence or chaos?
Your feelings will spread, so choose to amplify the positive and manage the negative because your team is watching – and feeling.
