How emotional are you?

How does your range of emotions compare with those who work around you? Personally, my highs are high and my lows are low. Good things can be good, great, fantastic, terrific, fabulous, awesome, etc. and then there’s the not so good things, they can range from fine, to not good, bad, terrible, awful, and even devastating (you get the picture).

I have the self-awareness I have big emotions (and self awareness) and I don’t do a good job of holding them in. Often, when I do try to hold them back, they come pouring out via my facial expressions. Once I had an employee ask how he would know if wasn’t doing a good job and without stopping to think, I literally said, ”my face…if you see it a lot and it isn’t happy, you aren’t doing a good job.”

For most of my career however I have worked with technical people who’s range of emotions (very generally speaking) is much narrower than mine. Over the years, I have learned when I need to try to dial it back, but the teams that I have enjoyed working with the most are the ones who understand me. And as a leader, I have to constantly be aware of my passion so that the team can receive my message (I even regulate my caffeine to make sure I can control my energy level). As a leader, you don’t get the luxury of doing what makes you comfortable, you have to be willing to flex your style to be where your team needs you to be. This isn’t about being inauthentic, or not bringing your whole self to work, but it is about knowing that how you present yourself influences the way your message is received.

So for those of you like me with big personalities, keep working on knowing when to dial it back and when to let it shine, and for those of you with a more narrow range of emotions, keep looking for opportunities to stretch your comfort zone.