Tag: emotions

Emotions and Building a Predictable Culture (3-14-18)

Last week we reflected on controlling vs. channeling emotions.  This week I was us to think about emotions, culture, and predictability.  This week’s blog is inspired by comments made last week by Nils Hartmann (Senior Director Global Diabetes).

For those of you who don’t know, I have two little girls Alice (almost 6) and Violet (4).  In a world full of chaos and change, I feel it’s my job to ensure home is predictable and dependable in certain ways.  For example, it’s important to me as their dad that they always know without question that I love them.  It’s something they should be able to count on day in and day out.  Even when they break stuff in the house, argue with each other, do something stupid that gets them hurt, get on my last nerve, etc. I love them.  My desire to create predictability for them isn’t about removing all potential pain or heartache in their life.  Pain, heartache, and failure will come and they’ll need to experience those things.  My desire to create a predictable and stable environment is about ensuring that they know that whatever happens, I’m here for them.  It’s important for me as a dad for them to know that I care, because that becomes the foundation we can build our relationship on. 

You might be wondering where this is going.  The above story has parallels to a conversation I had last week about building culture with the Trulicity team.  During the conversation, we started by talking about what culture is and eventually we moved on to talk about why culture is important.  This is when Nils jumped in and said something along the lines of, “If you have a good culture it creates predictability and that can be a good thing.”  I had never thought about it like that before.  Nils expanded on this thought by explaining how the predictability comes from a culture of mutual caring and respect.  It’s when you know that the person sitting across from you has your best interest in mind when they work with you.  It’s knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that the people around you care for you.  If you know these things with certainty, then this gives you a level of safety and comfort you don’t have otherwise.  If you have that safety and comfort, you can be freer to be you and do you.

As I reflected further, I realized that as a parent I’m in charge of the culture that I create at home.  As the opening story in this week’s blog suggests, I’m trying to create an environment of predictability and stability, so my girls can be themselves and grow up to be kick ass women.  I create this environment by consistently SHOWING that I care in small and big ways.  After realizing that I do this at home, I started to ask myself if I’m consistently creating an environment of predictability and stability at work, where people can be themselves and “grow up” to do kick ass things.  I do some things well at work, but I know I can always be better.  What about you?

The challenge: What are you doing to create a culture that is “predictable”?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Rivers and Channeling Emotions (3-7-18)

Last week we kicked off a series about looking at emotions differently.  We began by thinking about “losing” face vs. “finding” yourself.  This week we are going to take a second to think about rivers as they relate to controlling and channeling our emotions.     

Pretend for a minute that I asked you to go to a river and trap the water.  Imagine forcing the running river into boxes and Tupperware containers.  Imagine the sloshing, the energy, the swift current pushing on all corners of the container as it finds itself trapped.  Imagine you were successful.  Now you would have a river trapped in piles of containers.  Let’s think about something else.  Pretend for a moment that I asked you to change the course of a river.  Imagine I asked you to dig irrigation ditches to redirect and guide the water to a new location.  This would be a lot of work.  What good could this water do after it was redirected to dry soil?

How do the above situations connect to work?  Rivers are like emotions.  It is up to you to decide what you do with your emotions.  You can try to control your emotions and box them up, stacking them off somewhere to the side, or you can find a way to channel and reroute your emotions into something.  Why is this important?  If you’re anything like me for the longest time I tried to box up my emotions, especially the bad ones.  I felt that doing this was the professional thing to do.  I felt this proved I had strength.  Since then I’ve changed my mindset.  I’ve realized I was hurting myself by not feeling things.  I now try to better embrace my feelings and in time, (if I’m able) I try to channel it, to change its course to turn it into something that can help instead of destroy.

I’m not great at this yet, but I’m trying to be more okay with feeling everything.  I hope you become more okay with feeling things too.  I hope you allow yourself to feel angry and upset.  I hope you get irritated that often when are the ones who are getting in the way of fulfilling our mission to help people.  I hope you allow yourself to shed a few tears.  I hope you feel pride in the work you do and the person you are.  I hope you are overcome with joy when someone you know accomplishes great things.  I hope you feel love when you step into the doors.  I hope you feel so much and so strongly that sometimes you don’t even know what to do with it.  It’s okay.  I’ve been there, I am there.

As you feel those things, I hope you channel them into something.  I hope the anger and fury turns into tenacity, an unlimited will to do what is right for the people we serve.  I hope the joy is transformed into laughter, hugs, high fives, and all the little things we can do to remind each other that work is more than trudging through meetings and slide decks.  I hope the love you feel causes you to reach out to people when they need you and to reach out to people because you need them.  I hope that all of the emotions you have inside of you are channeled somewhere, instead of locked away in a vault.  I hope you find a way to redirect your emotions to bring water to dry soil.

The challenge: Are you controlling or channeling your emotions?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry