The Management of Emotions

Managing emotions adequately is vitally important in practically every area of live. Children learn this skill first from the example of their parents. These skills are transferred to society as the child grows and broadens his or her connections with the outside world. Emotional management skills become increasingly important as the human being moves through life. In the workplace, both managers and employees need to adequately manage their emotions in order to successfully accomplish their diverse tasks. In personal life, emotional management is important in the home in order to raise healthy, balanced individuals who will in their turn function well in the workplace. Emotions are an integral part of humanity. The management of emotions is therefore a task that faces every person in every stage of life daily. It is unfortunate that emotional management is not a topic consciously dealt with at either the home or learning institutions. The result of strong, badly managed emotions is often conflict, according to the Conflict Research Consortium (1998). Emotional and conflict management are closely connected. Once the conflicting parties realize this, it is easier to focus on the steps necessary towards a resolution of the conflict. There are many professionals offering advice on adequately managing emotions. The Conflict Research Consortium for example focuses its advice on the issue of emotions and conflict. Conflict is more easily resolved, according to this premise, when the emotions involved are explored and understood. Once each party understands the other's emotions, the issue of conflict becomes simpler and indeed could be eradicated entirely. This is especially so in personal relationships. Parties involved in romantic or family relationships will most often benefit from exploring the emotion involved in conflict. Emotions are also frequently both the cause and result of interpersonal relationships in the workplace. The emphasis on increasing profits and remaining at the top of the business world can cause extreme stress for managers. This stress, if not adequately managed, often find an outlet in inadequately managed emotions. Employees suffer as a result and in turn are the victim of emotional outbursts and conflicts. Hence, the initial cause of badly managed emotions is stress. In workplace relationships, emotional management should therefore be integrated with several other elements to understand the inherent cause-and-effect relationships in each individual case. Ironically, emotional outbursts resulting from profit-related stress has exactly the opposite of the desired effect. According to Gerson (2002), a manager who makes a habit of berating and shouting at employees is unlikely to see a favorable profit margin. Gerson therefore recommends that a program be implemented to handle work-related stress and its concomitant emotions. Emotions are part of human life. So is change. The extreme and rapid changes in the world today adds to stress both in business and in general life. This increases the danger of emotions that manifest in unacceptable ways. In extreme cases, the failure to recognize the need for managing emotions may lead to crimes such as rape or even murder. This makes it clear that emotional management in today's fast-changing world has become of extreme importance. Learning to adequately handle emotions should first and consciously be taught at home and afterwards in learning institutions. This would benefit not only business, but also personal relationships and general society. In terms of business, employees who feel they are valued will perform better, work harder and create the revenue sought by managers. Managers therefore need to handle their emotions adequately to achieve this, as seen above. Children who never learn to manage their emotions are more likely to engage in criminal activities. Society benefits more greatly from stable, productive individuals. In order to achieve this, emotional management is of greatest significance in early home life and education.