Emotional Rescue

I spent last weekend with my family celebrating my mother's 70th birthday. My brother was there with his three kids and I saw how much emotion gets tossed around between a parent and child. It makes me think of the days I was pursuing acting. I think I went into drama because it gave me an opportunity to express my emotions. There were some feelings I considered myself to be particularly good at and others I shyed away from. Playing an angry character didn't come easily to me for example. I learned through years of study and experience that I had to be comfortable with an emotion in my real life if I was going to play it well as an actor. I think the same is true in all communication. The better we know ourselves and how our emotions can control us, the better we will be at managing our converstations so that they are productive. As an actor I got to dive into an emotion knowing the consequence because there was a script. However, in real life, I realize that we never know how our expression could hurt someone or damage a situation. Whether it is a parent to a child, a child to a parent, a manager to a peer or direct report or a couple to each other, we can avoid this road by taking a deep breath and slowing down precisely when things start speeding up. Stepping away and letting our emotions settle before we respond can lead us to better conversations. To be added to Lanartco's Commmunication Performance Tip of the Week, please connect to this link or send your email address to info@lanartco.com