The business world has long understood that the emotions and values ​​of its employees are a key success factor. One of the great challenges that companies have assumed, now, is to take care of the mental health of the workers.

In this context, the School of Emotional Leadership (ele) has presented the White Paper on Emotions and Values ​​2020. Through the personal experiences and assessments of 160 experts from all sectors, the book makes an exhaustive x-ray of the big four pillars of mental health in the professional field: passion, fear, loyalty, and commitment.

Companies that are not committed and do not assume these behaviors are severely penalized, both in their internal functioning, in order to obtain results, as well as in their external perception, says José Bogas, CEO of Endesa, in the prologue of the book.

With small articles of professionals that come from completely different areas (from graduates in Commercial Management and Marketing, lawyers or engineers to airline pilots) each of these four emotions is addressed

This book gathers different people, of different ages, with different professions and different business levels that perceive how fear, loyalty, passion, and commitment are relevant actors in their daily work, says the book coordinator.

Companies have implemented some measures to improve the mental health of their employees. First, it has been his physical health paying attention to the adaptation of schedules or through medical examinations. Now we are in the phase of leading emotions. In this field much remains to be done. The return to investment that companies make in this field is immediate, says Elsa Martí.

The doctor considers that mental health is a pending task of companies in Spain. As a family doctor and psychotherapist, I live every day the dissatisfaction of my patients for the lack of comfort in their field of work. Stress, anxiety, reactive depression, psychological harassment … invade the consultations of medical professionals and psychologists, ”he laments.

I consider it urgent that companies know how to prevent and detect the risk factors that favor the appearance of emotional disorders where the ability to think logically is kidnapped by the emotion of the moment, says Dr. Martí.

This project aims to show how important it is in our lives to properly manage emotions and internalize how they condition our personal and professional careers, he adds.

Passion

Passion is the feeling that motivates us to carry out what we like and satisfy. He is responsible for what I choose, I can and I get. It is an essential feature that defines the character of each person.

It is the force that pushes you to do conscious things with who you are and with what you want to do and connecting with your essence. The energy that takes us beyond where we thought we could go, according to the White Paper on Emotions and Values.

In the world of work, passion is something fundamental. The ideal is to encourage and develop it and only if a person exercises it without moderation to stop it. It allows those talents with dedication, dedication, and commitment to continue growing in the company.

But this cannot be achieved if the professionals of the companies do not trust themselves or their work teams. Passion can also be understood as the effort and continued dedication of assigned tasks.

Passion is what gives fullness in the present and predicts a good future. It is what leads to adding and not subtracting, sharing and not competing, all of them necessary verbs to subsist in a working world and make it exciting explains Carmen Mc. Crory Martí, graduated in law, advertising and PR.

However, José Antonio Granero, architect and founding partner GCR Arquitectos and ENTREABIERTO, warns: “We must not confuse a passionate person with an altered person, who is out of focus. Passion can make the best and worst of us. 

Fear

Fear is the universal emotion that paralyzes and alters us. It can even lead to failure or not knowing how to face certain situations. When we talk about “fear” we can actually be camouflaging other feelings like shame or laziness.

But it is necessary to be afraid. Without it our survival and that of those around us are in danger; After all, it is a natural defense mechanism.

In a company, it is a common element. In general, seniors (from experience and knowledge) are less afraid than beginners. Maturity and the degree of responsibility also influence.

There is no denying that there is a culture of fear, but taking appropriate measures can become an ally.

Fear is my guide. It seems that we are afraid of our own fear, that we must hide it, demonize it, anesthetize it. But fear is necessary in our life, and obviously in our professional life, says Rafa de Ramón, a graduate in business administration.

Anselmo Izard, an industrial engineer, underlines: Fear, assumed, controlled and not repressed, is associated with opportunities; It is a catalyst to get out of the comfort zone and take us to our goals.

Loyalty

It is a value that is not learned. It is an attribute that is achieved from the experiences lived and the education received.

Loyalty is what allows you to defend your ideas without forgetting what is right or right. For this, it is necessary to build a proper identity faithful to principles.

It is a value that is much appreciated in the professional world for being more and more in disuse and a value that is misused because it causes loyalty to be confused with professionalism. Loyalty is the desired value in companies and, therefore, every person who enters a company must be loyal to it, is expressed in the publication.

One of the most controversial issues regarding loyalty is whether it can be bought or not. The answer is negative; You can buy people, but not loyalty (internal feelings).

Loyalty begins with oneself, with personal moral values ​​above all. In my professional life, I always applied this maxim, on some occasion harming my own professional interests. The end does not justify the means and can only be loyal to a commitment or to someone when one is loyal to your own principles, says Ana Bernaola, a computer engineer.

Fernando de la Jara, an agronomist, defends that companies must have a loyal external attitude towards society, loyalty to the environment is also important (customers, suppliers…) and, mainly, to promote internal loyalty by making professionals and workers share goals and procedures.

Commitment

It is a decision freely taken where one knows the conditions and accepts the obligations that entails”, is one of the definitions included in the White Book of Emotions and Values ​​2020.

It is a very personal and individual value with enormous importance abroad. The commitment is not expressed, it is demonstrated by the acts.

The commitment to a company cannot be forced, but it can be paddled in favor of creating an environment where it grows and strengthens.

The commitment does not have to do with the age or time spent in the business; it is acquired by example. It has to do with the person and the education received.

It has a close relationship with the passion, sacrifice, and trust that is created in a workgroup, it is stated in the book.

Macarena Botella, Director of Communication and External Relations at the Francisco de Vitoria University, says: In working life, by committing ourselves, we maximize our abilities to carry out the entrusted work, we are proactive, we feel the objectives of the institution as our own and this affects the growth and proper functioning of it; Without a doubt, the committed employee is the great treasure of companies!