Emotion Setters

“Leaders have an enormous impact on the overall emotions of an organization, and they are often at the center of the organization's stories.” ~ Goleman, Boyatzis & McKee, Primal Leadership

If you’ve had the opportunity, you know that when you walk into a truly healthy organization you can feel it before anyone even speaks. The energy is steadier. People listen more and there’s less ego in the room. In Primal Leadership, Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee name what many leaders sense but rarely put into words: leaders are emotional setters. Their mood, presence, and reactions ripple outward, shaping how safe, motivated, and connected people feel. Culture follows the emotional energy leaders carry, not just the strategy they announce.

This idea about the importance of how leaders show up aligns with what other thought leaders have written. Amy Edmondson’s work on psychological safety shows that people contribute and learn when leaders regulate fear and invite voice. Brené Brown reminds us that vulnerability from leaders isn’t weakness - it’s what builds trust. Ronald Heifetz’s adaptive leadership reinforces that leaders don’t remove tension; they hold it without becoming reactive. They keep arriving at the same insight: emotionally intelligent leadership starts with self-awareness, travels through empathy, and lands in relationships that can withstand pressure.

An emotionally intelligent organization, then, isn’t built through values statements or wellness initiatives alone. It’s built moment by moment as leaders notice their own emotional state, choose how they show up, and model the behaviors they hope to see mirrored. Calm during uncertainty. Curiosity during conflict. Care without avoidance. As Primal Leadership makes clear, and today’s leadership research confirms, emotions aren’t a soft side effect of work. They are the system that leaders are shaping every day, whether they mean to or not.

“Emotionally intelligent leaders … craft a vision with heartfelt passion, they foster an inspiring organizational mission that is deeply woven into the organizational fabric, and they know how to give people a sense that their work is meaningful.” ~ Goleman, Boyatzis & McKee