Their business is your business: taking responsibility as a leader

Question for you as a leader: Are you interested in the personal well-being of your team or are you more of a "none of my business" type?

Answer: It should be your business and I would like to explain why.

The fact is, the loss of someone you love very much or social rejection are among the most painful experiences in life. A physically inflicted injury activates the same brain areas as a psychologically verbal attack! That's what studies on the effects of social injury found.

In one of the studies, subjects played a computer-simulated version of the classic game of tag. In the process, they interacted virtually with two other players who they thought were human but were actually controlled by computers. At the end, the subject playing was excluded from the other two players. And lo and behold, the neural system reacted to the exclusion in almost the same way as to physical pain. Read the study here: https://idw-online.de/de/news362003

So as a leader, you should be aware of this. Don't ignore incidents where your team members experience social rejection. Don't wait until there is a noticeable drop in performance. Social pain deserves the same space as physical pain. After all, you wouldn't expect peak performance from someone with a broken wrist. And the same must be true for someone who is dealing with a breakup or other trauma.

Social pain reduces the brain's capacity for foresight, concentration and creativity. In other words, the brain is far from its 100%.

👉Note: Emotional pain is neurally just as intense as physical pain. Managers need to protect employees from social rejection before it affects their health and performance. So keep an eye on the internal team dynamic and observe whether everyone on the team feels included and also contributes. Take time to build a bond with your team. That way, you can more easily ask them honestly how they're doing and show your appreciation.

☝️Remember: Their business is your business. Learn more about this in our Leadership Training - how you, as a leader, can promote the well-being of your team by joining our Digital Leader Program. 🥂