This is a condensed slide deck from the fourth class of my Fall 2016 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

2. What happened?
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3. Class #
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4. Emotion
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5. Role of emotions 15 mins
An exercise 35 mins
Emotion management 25 mins
A conversation 20 mins
For next time… 5 mins
Agenda
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6. Emotion
Photo by Jill M [link]

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

8. Emotion
Emotions evolved to support survival
Uncontrolled emotion can lead us astray

9. Emotion

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

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

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

13. Remember?
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14. Emotion
Joseph LeDoux, New York University
“A quick and dirty signal”
Neural pathways 2x
Speed has a price…

15. Emotion
Photo by Ed Yourdon [link]

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

17. Emotion
Rapid triggering
Reflexive responses
Sensing ≠ Comprehension

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

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

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

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

22. A caveat
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23. A caveat
“A map is not the territory it represents.”
~Alford Korzybski

24. Another caveat
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25. It depends…
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26. Photo by Philip Bird [link]
Attention

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

34. Photo by Ivan Walsh [link]
Outlook

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

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

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

38. Photo by Eric Richardson [link]
Recovery time

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

46. Photo by Ed Yourdon [link]
Social intuition

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

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

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

50. A premise
Emotion management is
an essential leadership skill
Photo by Garry Knight [link]

51. Emotion
Photo by Tania Cataldo [link]
management

52. Emotion
Management ≠ Suppression or control
management

53. Emotion
management
Wegner (White Bears) on emotion:
Limits on willful control are necessary
Important to interrupt thinking at key moments
This is why…

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

55. Emotions are
Magnets attract & repel
Often these signals are accurate & helpful
Occasionally they’re not
attention magnets

56. Emotions are
False positives
False negatives
Unhelpful & inaccurate
Yet we don’t want to control emotions
attention magnets

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

58. Lower the
waterline
Self-awareness
Physiological responses (Siegel)
Biases & systematic errors (Kahneman)
Tendencies in certain situations (Davidson)

59. What can we do
in the moment?

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

61. Reframing
Photo by Rodrigo Baptista [link]

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

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

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

65. Self-soothing
Physiological modification
Active steps to change our emotional state

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

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

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

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

70. Talking about
feelings
This takes practice
& a welcoming culture
Relationships are key (self-directed, not solitary)

71. How can we build
our capacity?

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

73. Getting MESSy
Photo by Paul Colley [link]

74. Getting MESSy
Mindfulness
Exercise
Sleep hygiene
Stress reduction

75. Mindfulness
Photo by Strevo [link]

76. Mindfulness
Non-judgmental
awareness
& acceptance
of experience

77. Mindfulness
Daniel Siegel
Openness
Observation
Objectivity

78. Mindfulness
Meditation
A workout, not a break
A few minutes with regular practice

79. Mindfulness
Alternatives…
Journaling, exercise, time in nature
Any consistent practice that promotes reflection

80. Exercise
Photo by Gregor Winter [link]

81. Exercise
Emotions are physiological experiences
Mind/body integration ≠ Hippie bullshit

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

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

85. Stress reduction
Avoiding ego depletion
Boundaries, not balance

86. To sum up
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Consider your emotional style
What’s working for you? What’s not?
How might you build capacity (i.e. get MESSy)?

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

89. Two exercises…
Photo by Nicholas Vigier [link]

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…
Today’s slides posted on my site
Week 5 Assignment due Tuesday 9pm
1:1 meetings