Is your office more driven by logic or emotion?

Think of yourself at your best and worst around the office: Are you behaving like a responsible adult or a needy 4-year-old child?

In her 2013 Annual Meeting presentation “I can handle it,” psychologist Rachael Alexander, MD, said that all people operate on various points of a spectrum between the logical part of the brain and the emotional part, and when faced with change and stress, we often skew farther toward the emotional side and away from the logical side.

The logical part recognizes the guiding abilities of emotions but that you can handle any situation, regardless of how it makes you feel. The emotional part can feel scared and vulnerable when confronted with change, and struggle to cope when experiencing rejection, disapproval, humiliation, embarrassment or abandonment. This could manifest itself by, for example, avoiding networking events or declining to ask for help because you’re worried a colleague won’t think you are good enough.

Consider these workplace situations and ask yourself which side of the brain plays a greater role in how you and your team handle them:

• Confronting new prospects
• Learning of new management structure
• Making sales calls
• Giving presentations
• Providing feedback
• Making challenging decisions

Living a balanced life and committing to new behaviors are just two ways to counteract negative responses and move toward more productive, adult reactions, Alexander said. Taking responsibility and knowing you can handle these potentially uncomfortable situations, she added, provides the confidence to deal with change appropriately.

Read more in “I can handle it.”

For more Whole Person ideas

•        “Well mind and body” (pdf)
•        “Don’t allow negativity” (video)
•        “Whole Person balance quiz” (pdf)

Written by Matt Pais, MDRT Content Specialist