What’s Your Team Catching From You?

You can feel it before anyone speaks. The tension in the room. The excitement. The calm. Whether we realize it or not, we are constantly reading emotional cues and catching them. This isn’t soft science. It’s neuroscience. And if you’re in a position of influence, the emotional signals you send ripple further and faster than you think. 

This is called emotional contagion: the phenomenon where we unconsciously mimic and absorb the emotions of others through facial expressions, tone of voice, posture, and energy. It happens one-on-one, in teams, and at scale. Think of a sudden bang in a public space. People run before they understand what happened. Or remember the early days of the pandemic, when toilet paper flew off the shelves not because everyone needed it, but because fear spread faster than facts. 

These collective responses aren't about logic. They're about biology. Emotional contagion is an evolutionary mechanism tied to survival. It helped early humans stay alert to danger and quickly align as a group. Today, it still shapes how people feel and function in families, workplaces, and boardrooms. 

That’s why leadership emotional intelligence is not optional. It’s a responsibility. 

The research is compelling: A leader’s emotional presence can have more impact on a person’s mental health and well-being than even their doctor or spouse. Let that sink in. Your state of mind—your ability to regulate emotion, respond intentionally, and stay grounded—has real-world consequences for the people you lead. 

When leaders are reactive or unpredictable, it activates the brain’s threat response in others. Cortisol rises. Creativity drops. Collaboration shuts down. But when leaders remain calm and emotionally attuned, even in moments of pressure, it creates safety. Teams stay engaged, focused, and resilient. 

This is where emotional intelligence comes in. It starts with self-awareness, the ability to recognize your emotional patterns and internal triggers. Maybe it’s defensiveness when you’re challenged. Irritation when plans change. Anxiety when things feel uncertain. Whatever activates you, the most powerful shift is realizing that how you respond is always your choice. 

Neurologist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl captured it best when he said, 
“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” 

That space, that pause, is where leadership lives. Great leaders stretch that space. They practice the pause. They get curious instead of reactive. They respond instead of blaming. They model self-regulation, and in doing so, give others permission to do the same. 

Let’s be clear. This isn’t about being emotionless. It’s about being emotionally responsible. It’s about knowing that your frustration, fear, or energy doesn’t stop with you. It spreads. And as a leader, your emotional climate becomes the team’s emotional weather. 

So ask yourself: 

• What emotions do I bring into the room? 

• What tends to trigger me? 

• What do I want others to catch from me? 

Leadership isn’t defined by what happens to you. It’s defined by how you respond. 

About eLeadership Academy^®

Exclusive to credit unions, eLeadership Academy is the only online training solution that provides accessible, actionable training to develop high-performance leaders that people love to follow. We are on a mission to help build leadership and coaching bench strength within the system because we know credit unions are a force for good, and their leaders are the catalyst for member and employee experience. For more information, visit www.eleadershipacademy.com or contact [email protected].