Emotion in Business

Left brain vs right brain thinking

This is not about holding hands at the water cooler – emotion in business is one of your most powerful change tools. It unlocks creativity, innovation and business advantage and, critically, will determine whether your people engage with your strategy and purpose.

The left side

To 'get tough things done' businesses tend to focus mostly on the left-hand side of the brain, the rational side. Numbers, pie charts, PowerPoint decks, corporate memos, GANTT charts, objectivity, evidence, data, linear and logical thinking tend to take the lead.

The right side

But the underused right hand side unlocks a whole new armoury which sparks innovation, creative thinking, empathy, intuition, vision and big-picture strategic thinking. Organisations that understand this work hard to bring out the ‘right brain’ thinking of their team as they know it leads to competitive advantage.

Emotion powers sustainable change

The thinking with business change often states what is needed to drive action internally is a rational plan and business case. Yes, these things matter but alone they are not enough. There’s increasing research proving that decision-making and motivation are driven far less by logic and much more by emotion.

Both sides together

Senior leaders often get the importance of emotional connection when it comes to customers as they know that creating the connection drives loyalty and advocacy. Yet they don’t always make the same connection with employees. This is why with Intelligent Emotion, while we leverage the rational and logical, we also tap into the emotional as we know it powers sustainable change.

What makes you vulnerable. makes you beautiful
Brené Brown