Moods and Emotions –
We All Have Them and We All Share Them

Fact:

As you walk into a packed restaurant you get a sense of things.  Without saying a word to anyone you might think to yourself:
“This place is really crowded. People flock here to have a great time”. Or:
“This place is really crowded. They must have no place else to go”.

As you pick up the mood of the room, you experience what scientists call emotional contagion. Research in the 1990s on the emotional link between people, led to the discovery of mirror neurons.  (http://gocognitive.net/interviews/giacomo-rizzolatti-mirror-neurons).

As we carry our emotions around with us, we share our moods with others and in so doing we create an atmosphere that significantly impacts our everyday world.

Try it:

When your contagious moods and emotions are getting in the way, making a change is key. Shifting the mood in a one-on-one conversation or in a group can take on different forms.

• Get in touch with your own mood and make an “internal shift” if needed.
• Then you can improve the mood of others in a variety of ways:
• Inject humor or a sense of playfulness,
• Speak from a place of grounded optimism,
• Express appreciation and gratitude,
• Share a different perspective or point of view

For much more on Emotional Contagion be sure to listen to the Resilient Leadership Podcast: Emotional Contagion – How Not to Get Stuck with a Bad Mood – Yours or Someone Else’s!