The true test of leadership? Knowing how to manage collective emotions!

Because the true test of leadership is knowing how to extinguish collective emotions

Imagine you're the CEO of a company with hundreds of employees. You're asked to intervene in a branch where the new area manager has sparked widespread discontent among his employees (and the most dissatisfied are precisely the most productive). The problem is that this dissatisfaction is no longer just an individual issue; it has become a collective emotion, affecting the very people responsible for the entire team.

Which scenario do you think is the most difficult to manage?

• 📌 The employees are demotivated, but they haven't yet shared their emotions with each other.
• 📌 Employees have already expressed their collective discontent, reinforcing the sense of injustice and frustration.

If you chose the second option, you're right. When emotions spread within a group, they become more intense, last longer, and create dynamics that are difficult to control. This phenomenon is known as collective emotion and represents a crucial challenge for every leader.

But how can they be effectively manage collective emotions to prevent them from becoming destructive?

Why are collective emotions more intense?

Emotions, both positive and negative, are powerful tools for communication between people. When an employee is frustrated but doesn't talk about it, their emotions may remain contained. But when discontent spreads, it amplifies and becomes a group issue. In practice, even those who aren't directly affected by the cause of the discontent find a reason to be frustrated and "agree" with the rest of the team.

There are two main reasons why this happens:

• 🔹 Sharing and mutual reinforcement – When people confront each other, emotions intensify.
• 🔹 Emotional contagion – Emotions are contagious (and “strong” ones, whether positive or negative, are even more so) and can involve even those who were not initially affected by the problem.

For this, managing a problem before it turns into a collective crisis It is essential for any leader.

Regulating collective emotions: the role of the leader

An effective leader must understand, regulate and direct collective emotions in a constructive way.

The theory of emotional regulation developed by James Gross identifies four main strategies that a leader can use to manage the emotions of a group:

1. Change the situation
2. Shifting attention or creating distractions
3. Reappraise the interpretation of the situation
4. Modulating the emotional response

1. Change the situation to change the emotions

An effective method to prevent discontent is to create corporate rituals:

• 🔹 Investment firms organize informal meetings on weekends to decompress from stress.
• 🔹 Sports teams create motivational rituals to reduce pressure before games.
• 🔹 After the pandemic, many companies introduced moments of sharing to facilitate the return to the office.

2. Shifting attention or creating distractions

Another method is change the focus of attentionA concrete example is Steve Jobs:

When he returned to Apple in 1997, he shifted the employees' focus from the rivalry with Microsoft to Apple's unique value, even signing a deal with Bill Gates.

3. Reappraise the situation

When the problem cannot be avoided, it can be help the group see it differentlyAn example is the case of Microsoft and AI Tay:

Satya Nadella turned the Tay bot failure into a learning lesson, rather than focusing on the mistake.

4. Modulation of the emotional response

Finally, the leader must manage your emotions, because the team is constantly watching it.

🔹 If a CEO exudes security, employees will also feel more at ease.

🔹 If, on the other hand, the leader hides his emotions, the team will sense his insecurity.

Conclusion: a leader must be an emotional regulator

📌 Collective emotions are powerful: They can destroy an organization or make it stronger.

📌 A leader must understand them and transform them into positive energy.

If you find yourself having to manage a negative group emotion:

• ✅ Change the situation to prevent the problem.
• ✅ Shift your focus towards more productive goals.
• ✅ Reframe the situation to create a more constructive narrative.
• ✅ Manage your emotions to convey security to the team.

💡 Do you consider yourself a leader who knows how to manage collective emotions and who not only resolves conflicts but transforms crises into opportunities for growth?

🔗 Open Source Management Resources

📚 Insights into managing emotions in leadership

🔗 Other resources for further study