This is a condensed slide deck from my Spring 2017 section of The Art of Self-Coaching at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

1. The art of
Photo by Jill M [link]
self-coaching
Ed Batista
CLASS 4: EMOTION
Spring 2017

2. What happened?
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3. Role of emotions 15 mins
An exercise 30 mins
Emotion management 20 mins
A conversation 25 mins
For next time… 5 mins
Agenda
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4. Self-awareness
Photo by Andrea [link]

5. Emotion
Photo by Jill M [link]

6. Emotion
Antonio Damasio, USC
What purpose do emotions serve?
What role do they play in reasoning?

7. Emotion
Emotions evolved to support survival
Unregulated emotion can lead us astray

8. Emotion

9. Emotion
Emotion is integral to reasoning
Essential for efficient decision-making

10. Emotion
Victor Johnston, New Mexico St.
“Discriminant hedonic amplifiers”
Boost signals in our mental landscape
This is why…

11. Emotions are
attention magnets
Photo by Garrett Mace [link]

12. Remember?
Photo by TostadoPhoto [link]

13. Emotion
Joseph LeDoux, New York University
“Quick & dirty signal”
Neural pathways 2x
Speed has a price…

14. Photo by Ed Yourdon [link]
Emotion

15. Daniel Siegel, UCLA
What is the brain doing when we lose our mind?
Emotion

16. Rapid triggering
Reflexive responses
Sensing ≠ Comprehension
Emotion

17. Photo courtesy University of Wisconsin [link]
Emotional style

18. Emotional style
Richard Davidson, Univ. of Wisconsin
What is the neurological basis for emotion?

19. Emotional style
Prefrontal cortex involved in emotion
Emotions tied to specific neural pathways

20. Emotional style
6 dimensions of emotional style
Rooted in measurable neurological activity

21. A caveat
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22. A caveat
A map is not the territory it represents.
~Alford Korzybski

23. Another caveat
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24. It depends…
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25. Photo by Eric Richardson [link]
Recovery time

26. Recovery time
Speed of recovery from adverse experiences
Photo by Eric Richardson [link]

27. Recovery time
Prefrontal cortex activity
Connections between PFC & amygdala
Photo by Eric Richardson [link]

28. Recovery time
•---------------------------------------------------------•
Fast to recover, may Slow to recover,
fail to register or may feel defeated
learn from setbacks by minor setbacks

29. Photo by Seattle Yoga News [link]
Self-awareness

30. Self-awareness
Ability to perceive physical aspects of emotion
Photo by Seattle Yoga News [link]

31. Self-awareness
Insula activity
Photo by Seattle Yoga News [link]

32. Self-awareness
•---------------------------------------------------------•
Out of touch with Hyper-aware, may be
physical cues that distracted by physical
accompany emotion cues & emotions

33. Photo by Philip Bird [link]
Attention

34. Attention
Sharpness & clarity of focus
Ability to avoid distraction
Photo by Philip Bird [link]

35. Attention
Prefrontal cortex boosts & dampens signals
Also attunes to external data
Photo by Philip Bird [link]

36. Attention
•---------------------------------------------------------•
Unfocused, may be Hyper-focused,
easily distracted or may lose awareness
impulsive or lack spontaneity

37. Photo by Vincent Lock [link]
Context-
sensitivity

38. Context-
Discern differences in social environments
Regulate responses accordingly
sensitivity
Photo by Vincent Lock [link]

39. Context-
Hippocampus activity
Connections between PFC & hippocampus
sensitivity
Photo by Vincent Lock [link]

40. Context-
•---------------------------------------------------------•
Difficulty discerning Highly sensitive to
social differences & minute differences in
acting accordingly social environment
sensitivity

41. Photo by Ivan Walsh [link]
Outlook

42. Outlook
Ability to sustain positive emotion
Photo by Ivan Walsh [link]

43. Outlook
Reward circuit = PFC & nucleus accumbens
Photo by Ivan Walsh [link]

44. Outlook
•---------------------------------------------------------•
Highly pessimistic, Highly optimistic,
difficulty sustaining may be resistant to
positive feelings negative data

45. Photo by Ed Yourdon [link]
Social intuition

46. Social intuition
Sense others’ emotional responses
Photo by Ed Yourdon [link]

47. Social intuition
Fusiform gyrus activity
Amygdala activity
Photo by Ed Yourdon [link]

48. Social intuition
•---------------------------------------------------------•
Puzzled by others’ Highly intuitive, may
responses, socially be overly sensitive to
obtuse or insensitive others’ responses

49. A premise
Photo by Garry Knight [link]
Emotion management =
An essential leadership skill

50. Emotion
Photo by Tania Cataldo [link]
management

51. Emotion
Management ≠ Suppression or control
management

52. Emotion
management
Wegner (White Bears) on emotion
Limits on willful control are necessary
Essential to interrupt thought at key moments
This is why…

53. Emotions are
attention magnets
Photo by Garrett Mace [link]

54. Emotions are
Magnets attract & repel
These cues can be accurate & helpful
But sometimes they’re not (“Dirty signal”)
attention magnets

55. Emotions are
False positives
False negatives
But we can’t (& don’t want to) control emotions
Instead…
attention magnets

56. Photo by Andrew Smith [link]
Lower the
waterline

57. Lower the
waterline
Increase our self-awareness…
Emotional tendencies (Davidson)
Physiological responses (Siegel)
Cognitive biases (Kahneman)
Mindset (Dweck)

58. What can we do
in the moment?

59. Emotion
Reframing
Self-soothing
Talking about feelings
management tools

60. Reframing
Photo by Rodrigo Baptista [link]

61. Reframing
Cognitive reappraisal
Kevin Ochsner, Columbia
James Gross & Rebecca Ray, Stanford
How do our thoughts influence our experience?

62. Reframing
The meanings we assign  Emotional response
Re-interpret a situation  Shift our emotions
Our mental models shape our experiences

63. Self-soothing
Photo by Amanda Patsopoulou [link]

64. Self-soothing
Physiological modification
Active steps to influence our emotional state

65. Self-soothing
Response modification
Active choice in how we express emotion

66. Self-soothing
Deeper, slower breaths
Speak more slowly & monitor tone
Sense our non-verbals & body language
Shift focus of our attention

67. Talking about
Photo by Garry Knight [link]
feelings

68. Talking about
feelings
Affect labeling
Disrupts negative emotion
Talking about emotion > Thinking about emotion

69. Talking about
feelings
This takes practice
& a supportive culture
Relationships are key (social, not solitary)

70. How can we build
our capacity?

71. Remember me?
Photo by Paul Colley [link]

72. Getting MESSy
Photo by Paul Colley [link]

73. Getting MESSy
Mindfulness
Exercise
Sleep hygiene
Stress reduction

74. Mindfulness
Non-judgmental
awareness
& acceptance
of experience

75. Mindfulness
Daniel Siegel & mindsight
Openness
Observation
Objectivity

76. Mindfulness
Meditation

77. Mindfulness
Meditation & alternatives…
Journaling, certain forms of exercise
Any consistent practice that promotes reflection

78. Mindfulness
Photo by James Russell [link]
1 hour a week in nature

79. Exercise
Photo by Gregor Winter [link]

80. Exercise
Mind/body integration ≠ Hippie bullshit
Emotions are physiological experiences
Physical activity  Self-awareness (Davidson)

81. Sleep hygiene
Photo by Drriss & Marrionn [link]

82. Sleep hygiene
Being prepared then = Having the answer
Being prepared now = Being at your best

83. Stress reduction
Photo by Sara V. [link]

84. Stress reduction
Needless stressors waste attention
Avoiding ego depletion
Boundaries are key

85. To sum up
Photo by Pranav Yaddanapudi [link]
Consider your current emotional style
What’s working for you? What’s not?
What changes might be useful?

86. To sum up
Lower the waterline  Self-awareness
Management tools in the moment
Get MESSy to build capacity

87. For next time…
Photo by Nicholas Vigier [link]

88. Happiness
Photo by Marina del Castell [link]

89. Photo by dotmatchbox [link]
Two exercises…

90. Photo by dotmatchbox [link]
Activity-Fit
Diagnostic

91. Activity-Fit
Same as in Lyubomirsky (but easier to score)
Complete after reading Lyubomirsky
Diagnostic

92. Photo by Basti Hirsch [link]
VIA Survey

93. VIA Survey
Link on Canvas
120 questions, 20 mins
Be honest with yourself

94. Beware!
This chart is OFTEN misinterpreted
Be sure to read Peterson
And possibly Diener

95. Other items…
Slides will be posted on my site
Weekly assignment due Wednesday 6pm
1:1 meetings today in B307 (NOT the usual room)