Emotions Aren't Soft: Career Decision-Making & Leadership Development Guide

Emotions

Aren't soft,

And they are not to be observed as “good” or “bad”.

📢 They are flag posts that point out to what you care deeply about and what you need.

Emotions are information. Neglecting to tune in means you are neglecting to make informed decisions. 

Researchers like Bechara and Damasio proposed that our emotional/bodily (“somatic”) signals play a Crucial Guiding Role in decision-making, especially in complex, real-life decisions where the outcomes are uncertain (Bechara & Damasio). 

The core idea is that our emotional and bodily signals act like quiet “compass points” that help us make good decisions. In Bechara and Damasio’s research, people with damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex who can’t access these signals consistently made poor choices. In the Iowa Gambling Task, they kept choosing the high-reward options that ended badly over time, and they showed no anticipatory emotional response that would normally signal risk.

In other words, 💡 without emotional signals, people lost the ability to sense future consequences and became short-sighted decision-makers, even when the rational facts were the same.

Don't run away from your emotions; bring them to the forefront, name them, and ask yourself what they are telling you about what you care for and should act on.

Decision-making is one of the #1 skills AI cannot replace (at this time), as a machine can not tap into all the hidden knowledge your human body is using. Are you using it?

Decision-making is a high-demand skill in building and elevating your career. As you develop your leadership, make sure you are boosting your ability to use all the information at your disposal, including your emotional intake.