Emotions are a part of everyday life — both at work and outside of it. In the work context, emotions are particularly likely to emerge when organizations are working on ambitious or challenging projects. For example, large numbers of employees might experience shared joy if they take time to celebrate their successes in achieving project milestones. Or they might experience collective sadness as they mourn the failure of a product launch that was touted as the “next big thing.”
Research: The Complicated Role of Hope in the Workplace
How leaders can leverage the power of hope — while avoiding its pitfalls.
October 18, 2022
Yaroslav Danylchenko/Stocksy
Summary.
Emotions, like love (not the romantic kind), fear, and joviality have all been demonstrated to play a key role in how some organizations function. Hope, however, is one emotion that has been given short shrift, despite how frequently organizations invoke hope when striving toward challenging goals. When leaders outline a big vision, they have to acknowledge, in part, that failure is also a possibility — no matter strong the feeling of hope runs through the organization. The authors conducted research at an organization seeking to heal human trafficking victims from trauma to better understand how hope affects a team. They found that leaders might need to promote a more realistic form of hope that embraces both the highs and the lows — and one that can be adjusted when organizations face challenges or setbacks.