ABSTRACT
Emotions can arise as a reaction to specific management situations, such as relationships with colleagues, subordinates, clients and other stakeholders, and also emerge from the individual inner-world. Conflict too can derive from relationships in the outer-world and within the inner-world, and catalyse emotions which then influence one’s thinking and acting. Yet, when the choices that arise become more existential because of their strategic nature and long-term implications, emotional involvement increases. In management, the emotional pain of loss and the threat of taking the wrong path are consistently avoided and treated as a taboo subject – even though investigating the emotional anxiety or fear reaction may reveal useful insight about alternative options. There is a practical purpose to detecting biases as well as repressed negative emotions, since both are linked with defence mechanisms. Hence it would prove beneficial for executives to develop an understanding and awareness of these emotions and biases in order to restrict their influence in management.
