LSM602: Identifying and Managing Emotions Cornell University Johnson Graduate School of Management “Identifying and Managing Emotions” Course Project Instructions: Complete this project and submit it to your instructor. See the assignment page for information about the grading rubric. Do not hesitate to contact your instructor if you have any questions about the project. This project will give you an opportunity to reflect on how you influence the emotional culture of your team, and then to practice using the tools that will allow you to better manage your own emotions. Complete each project part as you progress through the course. Wait to submit the project until all three parts are complete. Begin your course project by completing Part One below. Part One: Analyzing the Effects of Emotional Contagion In Module 2, you explored four reasons why working on managing your emotions is an efficient way to become a better leader. The reasons included the effects of emotional contagion, emotional suppression, and the high level of signal-to-noise ratio in emotional systems. In this part of the course project, we will ask you to find examples of these effects in your own work environment. Complete the following grid. Emotional Contagion Think of someone higher up that behaves or has behaved in a certain way that caused you to catch an emotion from him or her. Briefly describe what that person did and how it made you feel. Now think of a time when you did something where the emotion that was caught by your team made it more difficult for the team to get work done. Consider that one 1 © 2016 eCornell. All rights reserved. All other copyrights, trademarks, trade names, and logos are the sole property of their respective owners. LSM602: Identifying and Managing Emotions Cornell University Johnson Graduate School of Management of the interesting things about power is that we underestimate its amplifying effect on other people. Emotional Suppression Describe an interaction you experienced in which the more powerful person in the room was suppressing his or her emotions (e.g., during a meeting when a difficult message had to be delivered). Were they successful from an emotional point of view? (Possible responses range from “not successful at all” to “they suppressed their emotions so much that there was an emotional vacuum.”) Were the emotions that were caught by others the best ones for that situation? Describe a time when you suppressed your emotions with others (e.g., during a meeting when a difficult message had to be delivered). Do you think the subordinates ended up with the emotions that were best suited for the situation, or did they catch some of the emotion that you were suppressing anyway? Do you feel that it hurt your ability to make decisions or hurt your ability to suppress further emotions? Signal-toNoise Ratio (A high level of this is bad) Have you ever worked with someone who seems to have a high base level of a particular emotion all the time? For example, someone who is angry or anxious all the time? Did you ever have difficulty reading their emotional signals (e.g., knowing when 2 © 2016 eCornell. All rights reserved. All other copyrights, trademarks, trade names, and logos are the sole property of their respective owners. LSM602: Identifying and Managing Emotions Cornell University Johnson Graduate School of Management something specific made them anxious or angry)? Or, can you think of an instance when you had trouble reading their emotional signals? Do you think you have an emotion that you tend to feel a lot? Do you think that it makes it easier or harder for your subordinates to understand when they have done something to trigger that emotion in you? Part Two: Removing Drift in Thoughts (Appraisal Category of Emotion Management) Instructions: This part of the course project will help you practice the three-step tool you learned in Module 4. It is recommended that you do this part of the course project over several days to allow you to truly experience distinct emotions. Doing this all in one sitting will not be as effective. Completing this part of the course project will also allow you to get feedback from your instructor so that you can continue to practice it correctly on your own after the course is complete. Remember that retraining your emotional responses is a relatively quick process, but it still requires effort. We’ll ask you to think of distinct events or incidents that triggered or will trigger you to experience a strong negative emotion. Then, as you are re-experiencing the emotion, we’ll ask you to document the raw thoughts you have about each event. Finally, we’ll get you to identify distortions in each of your raw thoughts so you can re-write them to make them more accurate. To get the most benefit out of this exercise, you may want to focus on only one or two of the grids below per day. Event #1: Past Event Complete the following grid. 3 © 2016 eCornell. All rights reserved. All other copyrights, trademarks, trade names, and logos are the sole property of their respective owners. LSM602: Identifying and Managing Emotions Cornell University Johnson Graduate School of Management Step 1: Feel the emotion, freeze the thoughts Identify and briefly describe a specific incident in the past that triggered a strong negative reaction: Recall and re-experience the emotion. Once you are experiencing the emotion, rate the level of that emotion on a 100-point scale: Emotion(s): Level: _ / 100 What is going through your mind? Write down your unedited, raw thoughts (at least 3-4): 1. ___________________________________________________ 2. ___________________________________________________ 3. ___________________________________________________ 4. ____________________________________________________ Step 2: Look for distortions Compare your raw thoughts above to the distortions on the “11 Thought Distortions” tool. For each thought, are there any of those distortions? If so, list which ones below (e.g., labeling, mind reading, crystal ball gazing…)? Distortions for thought 1. ______________________________________ Distortions for thought 2. ______________________________________ Distortions for thought 3. ______________________________________ Distortions for thought 4. ______________________________________ Step 3: Clean up distortions For each of the distorted thoughts you identified in Step 2, can you come up with a more accurate alternative (that you believe)? Write the cleaned-up thoughts below (e.g., “That guy cut me off on purpose” (mind reading) becomes “That guy may have cut me off on purpose, or he may not have seen me.”) 1. ______________________________________ 2. ______________________________________ 3. ______________________________________ 4. ______________________________________ Event #2: Recent Event Complete the following grid. Step 1: Feel the emotion, freeze the thoughts Identify and briefly describe a specific and recent incident that triggered a strong negative reaction: 4 © 2016 eCornell. All rights reserved. All other copyrights, trademarks, trade names, and logos are the sole property of their respective owners. LSM602: Identifying and Managing Emotions Cornell University Johnson Graduate School of Management Recall and re-experience the emotion. Once you are experiencing the emotion, rate the level of that emotion on a 100-point scale: Emotion(s): Level: _ / 100 Write down your unedited, raw thoughts (at least 3-4): 1. ______________________________________ 2. ______________________________________ 3. ______________________________________ 4. ______________________________________ Step 2: Look for distortions Compare your raw thoughts above to the distortions on the “11 Thought Distortions” tool. For each thought, are there any of those distortions? If so, list which ones below (e.g., labeling, mind reading, crystal ball gazing…)? Distortions for thought 1. _ Distortions for thought 2. _ Distortions for thought 3. _ Distortions for thought 4. _ Step 3: Clean up distortions For each of the distorted thoughts you identified in Step 2, can you come up with a more accurate alternative (that you believe)? Write the cleaned-up thoughts below (e.g., “That guy cut me off on purpose” (mind reading) becomes “That guy may have cut me off on purpose, or he may not have seen me.”) 1. ______________________________________ 2. ______________________________________ 3. ______________________________________ 4. ______________________________________ Event #3: Future Event Complete the following grid. Step 1: Feel the emotion, freeze the thoughts Identify and briefly describe a specific incident in the future that is triggering a strong negative reaction: 5 © 2016 eCornell. All rights reserved. All other copyrights, trademarks, trade names, and logos are the sole property of their respective owners. LSM602: Identifying and Managing Emotions Cornell University Johnson Graduate School of Management Recall and re-experience the emotion. Once you are experiencing the emotion, rate the level of that emotion on a 100-point scale: Emotion(s): Level: _ / 100 Write down your unedited, raw thoughts (at least 3-4): 1. ______________________________________ 2. ______________________________________ 3. ______________________________________ 4. ______________________________________ Step 2: Look for distortions Compare your raw thoughts above to the distortions on the “11 Thought Distortions” tool. For each thought, are there any of those distortions? If so, list which ones below (e.g., labeling, mind reading, crystal ball gazing…)? 1. ______________________________________ 2. ______________________________________ 3. ______________________________________ 4. ______________________________________ Step 3: Clean up distortions For each of the distorted thoughts you identified in Step 2, can you come up with a more accurate alternative (that you believe)? Write the cleaned-up thoughts below (e.g., “That guy cut me off on purpose” (mind reading) becomes “That guy may have cut me off on purpose, or he may not have seen me.”) 1. ______________________________________ 2. ______________________________________ 3. ______________________________________ 4. ______________________________________ After you’ve practiced this tool three times, answer the following question: If you were to teach this tool to someone else, what three things that you now know would be helpful? (These should be new insights and not things that were already mentioned in the course.) 1. ______________________________________ 2. ______________________________________ 3. ______________________________________ 4. ______________________________________ Part Three: Practice Meditation Instructions: 6 © 2016 eCornell. All rights reserved. All other copyrights, trademarks, trade names, and logos are the sole property of their respective owners. LSM602: Identifying and Managing Emotions Cornell University Johnson Graduate School of Management This part of the course project will require you to practice meditation and report on what you learned while doing it. Before you begin, take stock of your emotional state. Are there things that are causing you stress or anxiety? Complete the following grid. Assess your current emotional state. Briefly describe any work situations that are causing you tension. Meditate three times, for at least 10 minutes each time. Describe what happened when you tried to meditate. What was difficult? Were you able to keep a passive attitude? What, if anything, will you do differently the next time you try to meditate? What changed as you went from the first to the second and third practice? Follow the specific meditation steps as outlined in the “Meditation Steps” tool. Reflect on what you learned. If you were to explain to someone else how to do this, what three things that you now know would be helpful? 7 © 2016 eCornell. All rights reserved. All other copyrights, trademarks, trade names, and logos are the sole property of their respective owners. LSM602: Identifying and Managing Emotions Cornell University Johnson Graduate School of Management Outline your next steps. Briefly describe how you plan to work this meditation tool into your daily routine. How will you remember to do it every day? How and when will you evaluate your progress (e.g., measure the change in your before-to-after heart rate drop over two weeks). To submit this assignment, please refer to the instructions in the course. 8 © 2016 eCornell. All rights reserved. All other copyrights, trademarks, trade names, and logos are the sole property of their respective owners.
