There was a time when the great leaders where stoic, analytical and distant. They were able to separate their feelings from what they had to do to stay in control. They were impersonal and non-emotional. This represented strength.

Then the world has changed. Today’s best leaders are those who activate the emotional connection and emotional investment of their people. They don’t do this by remaining distant from their people. They do it by being more human and more emotional with their people.

Regardless what you feel politically about Obama, he models both effective and ineffective leadership qualities. His thinking and analytical approach to the country’s complex issues allows him to successfully manage things at once. However, his even and non-emotional responses portray him as disconnected from the feelings of those affected by challenges such as lost jobs, lost houses and the gulf oil spill.

Today’s workplace needs leaders who share their passion for what they do, and the feelings they have for the people they lead. They must be more connected to both how they think and feel, and be able to be truly present with their emotions. Emotions are not a sign of weakness – they are a sign of humanity. And if today’s managers and leaders want to engage and inspire their employees to perform, then they must be comfortable with their emotions and the emotions of their employees.

I frequently reference the book, Human Sigma, by Dr. Johnn Fleming and Jim Asplund. In this book, the authors (Gallup researchers) present that the primary difference between a satisfied customer and a loyal customer is the emotional connection a customer has to a brand, product or organization. Emotions move customers from satisfied (maybe they come back) to loyal (they always come back).
The same can be said about employees. The greatest employee performance happens when they are emotionally connected to their work through a compelling purpose and an emotional/personal connection to their manager and team.

Accurate, though dispassionate, rhetoric does not inspire; emotional connectedness inspires. Empathy matters. Emotions matter. Maintaining a constant state of evenness confuses employees to what matters and what really matters. Life and work include race and rest, excitement and stability. Leaders create the tone by how they react. The monotone, emotional-less leader inspires the same bland response from his people.

How Obama is handling the response to the BP oil spill is very telling about his leadership style. Though applauded for his ability to be constantly stayed and even, there are indeed times when the emotions – the humanity – are needed to relate to what others are experiencing. Think about Churchill at the time of the bombing of London in the second World War. To activate emotions, you have to show emotions.

Leaders who share their emotions, share their humanity. Employees relate as people. Customers relate as people. Out of control emotions are counter-productive. The lack of emotions is also counter-productive.

Do your employees see you as human and passionate about things that really matter?
Do you openly and responsibly share your feelings and emotions in the workplace?
Do you inspire your employees to be emotionally-invested in their work?

In the industrial age, emotions were perceived as performance inhibiting. In a service and intellectual age, emotions drive innovation, responsiveness and performance. Set the emotional pace for you employees; they will then set the emotional pace for your customers. There are leadership lessons everywhere.