MSLD632 - Module 9 - Emotions and Decisions - Madeline Campbel


Emotions assist us in thriving, avoiding, how we think, behave, react…really how we live each and every day. Emotions coerce us to take action and alter the decisions we make. They also assist in how we view ourselves and the daily decisions we make. According to Shiv, “emotions play a crucial role in the decision-making by allowing us to resolve decision conflict” (2011). Daily decisions, personal or professional, can be cryptic or uncertain solely based on our emotional form. We either leave the decision we have made feeling confident or that we have been overly confident and made a poor choice. From personal experience within work or even personal situations, both positive and negative emotions spread like a wildfire. Emotions are so strong that others can quickly pick up on them and can alter how they are feeling as well. From personal experience, if my manager is confident and in a chipper mood, it sets the tone for the day, but when my manager is having a difficult day, you feel the difference within the office. Due to the nature of the highs and lows of emotions, I have also witnessed how decision can be hastily or thoughtfully made with emotions are running high or low.  Hoch relates that “There is now a growing body of evidence that affect and emotions play an important role in people's decision processes” (2001).

An example where I was extremely confident of a situation and the outcome of the situation was when I hosted an Accepted Student Reception (ASR) this past spring. My job requires me to travel often and host events in which I have to speak publicly. Even though my undergraduate degree required copious amount of public speaking, it is something I have to work through mentally and prepare for extensively. My third ASR that I hosted was in New York City and my non-direct supervisor, the dean of Enrollment Management for ERAU Prescott, was instructed to travel with me and watch me present. My direct supervisor informed the dean that I was unable to carry such an event myself and needed assistance presenting. I was overly prepared for my presentation and knew the presentation like the back of my hand. Of course it is nerve-racking to present in front of your bosses boss when you know they do not have the confidence in you, but I was actually very confident in the event and my skills. The presentation ran perfectly and upon the conclusion, the dean said, “you are more than competent to host these events on your own and I do not find it necessary for anyone to assist you.” The families and students also loved the event and all were extremely thankful for it and said the presentation was wonderful. I believe my positive confidence was reflected in my knowledge of Embry-Riddle and my passion for students to learn more about the excellent school.

An example of an where I did not have much confidence would be when I went to approach my manager at Marriott regarding heavy issues as to why I was resigning. My emotions were fully attached to my frustration and heartbreak over the poorly operated Residence Inn and I believe I carried too much emotion within my conversation. Half-way through the conversation, I realized that my emotions and thoughts were not cared for and lost all confidence in my carefully organized notes. Replaying the conversation I had upon giving my two weeks notice at Marriott, I realized that my frustration and sadness of the situation held back my confidence and my manager would not even have noticed if I was reading the A-B-C’s to her. The lack of confidence hindered what could have been a fruitful conversation for the sake of the other employees.

Confidence and emotions are inseparably linked. Shiv shares how, “confidence is contagious, passion is persuasive…emotions yield decisions with conviction” and encourages individuals to, “invoke emotion into the decision-making process” (2011). As humans, we make decisions every day that may require little to no thought, like having a cup of coffee every morning. We also have decisions that will leave you awake for hours in the evening. We, as a whole, wrestle with what is right versus wrong and if we said too much or too little. The emotions behind our decisions are either engrained within us, or new and frightful, but either way, they impact the decisions we make, which in turn make up our lives. The emotions we have and the confidence we carry are of the utmost importance within our decisions and should not be thought of lightly.

References

Hoch, S.J. & Kunreuther H.C. (2001). Wharton on making decisions. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley & Sons.

Shiv, B. (2011). Brain research at Stanford: Decision making. Retrieved from YouTube.com: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRKfl4owWKc

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