We’re all human, and we all have emotions at work—it’s learning how to accept and incorporate them into our work lives that’s key.
That’s what Wall Street Journal bestselling authors Liz Fosslien and Molly West Duffy covered in their recent installment of ISACA’s Member-Exclusive Speaker Series. Fosslien and West Duffy are co-authors of the bestseller No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power of Embracing Emotion at Work and Big Feelings: How To Be Okay When Things Are Not Okay. Fosslien has been featured by TED, The Economist, The New York Times and The Financial Times, and West Duffy has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Quartz and Entrepreneur. They recently shared their guide to “Emotional Fluency” as part of ISACA’s initiative to invite industry thought leaders, game-changers and ground-breakers to share in fruitful and inspiring conversations with members.
ISACA members in attendance enjoyed the authors’ expert insights on emotional fluency and selective vulnerability while earning 1 CPE credit. The takeaways from this conversation aimed to educate attendees about their emotional expression tendencies and about how they can create tools to help navigate emotional situations in the workplace.
Fosslien and West Duffy delved into the basics of acknowledging one’s emotions and how to evaluate if they should be shared in certain situations. They acknowledged that, while vulnerability is important, it is critical that leaders understand how to prioritize stability and psychological safety. The speakers encouraged attendees to remain aware of their emotional expression tendences to help them traverse a variety of situations at work.
A few of their key points included:
- the three main elements of emotional fluency;
- under vs. over emoters;
- creating tools like “how to work with me” guides;
- how to apply selective vulnerability to develop a supportive culture;
- and how to successfully navigate common cultural misunderstandings within teams.
In response, community members commented on how appropriate amounts of emotion are an effective leadership skill, despite commonly held public perception to the contrary. Attendees highlighted the positive impact leaders can create by building safe spaces, practicing vulnerability and gratitude, and modeling empathy. Although fostering this environment can prove to be a challenge, emotional transparency between peers and supervisors creates trust and strengthens working relationships.
For additional insights into the exclusive conversation, the community’s commentary and feedback were compiled with the speakers’ key points in a shareable infographic, which can be found below:
To participate in the next Member-Exclusive Speaker Series event, join the ISACA community today and sign up in advance to attend the next session.
Editor’s note: ISACA members can access full videos of recent Member-Exclusive Speaker Series events here.
