Emotional Agility at Work: The Secret to Boosting Performance and Team Culture

For decades, the prevailing attitude in workplaces was simple: leave your feelings at home. Since excessive displays of emotion were considered weak, disruptive, even unprofessional, they were suppressed in favor of logic and professionalism.

This view, however, has become outdated as work cultures evolved. We now understand what many feel.

Whether it be stress from deadlines, anxiety during change, pride after closing a deal, or frustration from ambiguous feedback, emotions don’t disappear once you clock in. They show up daily, shaping how people think, communicate, and perform.

This is why organizations are beginning to treat emotional agility as a critical skill, not just a personal trait. Although rooted in emotional intelligence (EI), it goes beyond just managing your feelings. Since it’s guided by individual core values, it strengthens workplace culture.

To deepen your understanding of this competency, we’ll tackle its intricacies, namely:

• What emotional agility is
• Its distinctive features
• The advantages it offers
• How to instill it across your organization

What is emotional agility?

Coined in her book “Emotional Agility”, Harvard Medical School psychologist Dr. Susan David describes this ability as, “being flexible with your thoughts and feelings so that you can respond optimally to everyday situations.”

It’s a learnable skill, not an inherent characteristic

Unlike your personality traits, emotional agility can be honed. Rather than leaving you reactive to feelings, it enables psychological flexibility—something today’s workplaces demand. It entails moving through four key stages:

1. Showing up: This refers to your willingness to face emotions, despite the discomfort.
2. Stepping out: This involves objective observation, mainly by creating psychological distance from unhelpful thoughts.
3. Walking your why: This pertains to using values rather than impulses to guide your actions.
4. Moving on: This alludes to responding in alignment with your objectives and long-term well-being.

Basically, it helps professionals act out of intent instead of habit, even in difficult situations.

It’s an ongoing practice

Like other skills, mastering emotional agility requires continuous application. In fast-paced work environments, circumstances and emotional triggers evolve, meaning you must also adapt accordingly. Without practice, even proficient individuals can fall into old, reactive patterns.

What emotional agility isn’t

As professional settings embrace emotional agility, it’s important to clarify what it doesn’t represent. Misunderstandings or misrepresentations can result in confusion, where employees misuse it and harm team culture. So, we’ll address the common misconceptions next.

It’s not an excuse for unprofessionalism

Although emotional agility invites you to acknowledge your emotions, it doesn’t justify disruptive conduct—think of lashing out or venting without accountability. Professionals must still regulate their behavior in respectful and constructive ways, so frame it as a strength, not a loophole.

It’s not getting caught up in emotions

We briefly touched on how the “stepping out” stage creates psychological distance between stimulus and response.

This is critical, since emotional agility is about developing the ability to think before you act—not succumbing to anger, anxiety, and the like. The Center for Creative Leadership even discusses how leaders who effectively manage emotional responses are better at conflict resolution.

Reactivity, however, bypasses this, resulting in immediate and often unproductive behaviors that damage team cohesion.

It isn’t emotional avoidance

Although agility emphasizes not being ruled by emotions, it doesn’t mean you ignore them—this is counterintuitive. In fact, research shows that a mechanism like suppression is tied to negative outcomes like depression and anxiety!

Contrary to this misconception, it involves recognizing, accepting, and navigating your feelings in ways that align with your personal beliefs and professional goals. GoodRx even suggests using them as information, which facilitates better processing.

Emotional agility isn’t about evading responsibility either. Acknowledging fear, anxiety, or disappointment is healthy, but don’t blame them for missed deadlines and poor communication.

It isn’t about being constantly positive

Optimism has its place, but emotional agility doesn’t require toxic positivity. Excessively promoting hopeful or cheerful behaviors may compel employees to hide their struggles.

In contrast, agility encourages you to welcome the full range of emotions, even difficult ones, as they carry valuable information. This creates room for honest expression and growth-oriented responses.

Emotional intelligence vs. emotional agility: What’s the difference?

EI is now seen as an essential skill, but emotional agility is also emerging due to dynamic business environments.

These two competencies may sound similar at first glance, but they’re not interchangeable. To help you differentiate between them, we’ll dive into their distinctions.

Emotional intelligence is your awareness and management system

First popularized by Daniel Goleman in his 1994 book Emotional Intelligence: Why it Can Matter More Than IQ, EI refers to your ability to:

1. Perceive your own emotions, as well as others’
2. Understand social and emotional cues
3. Manage your reactions to such signals
4. Use this information to guide thinking and behavior

In workplaces, EI has become foundational, as it allows you to empathize with teams, navigate conflict, and remain calm under pressure.

Emotional agility enables values-driven, flexible responses

While EI helps in recognition and regulation, it doesn’t always tell us what to do with our emotions—this is where agility comes in. It helps us respond to feelings with intent, keeping decisions aligned with beliefs despite stress, conflict, or uncertainty.

To sum it up: EI provides emotional insight, while agility gives you an actionable framework.

This is extremely valuable when logic and emotion pull in opposite directions. Think of situations where you have to give negative feedback, traverse organizational change, or handle interpersonal tensions.

Emotional intelligence vs. emotional agility: Key differences at a glance

Here’s a side-by-side comparison of both skillsets:

How EI and emotional agility work together in practice

Keep this in mind as well: EI and emotional agility aren’t competing capabilities. They’re, in fact, complementary. These work scenarios will give you a clearer picture.

Scenario 1: Receiving negative feedback

Imagine a project manager draws unpleasant criticism from a client. Reactive habits may lead them to:

• Be defensive and blame others
• Harbor frustration that carries over to the next meeting
• Internalize criticism, hurting their morale and confidence

EI, however, allows them to recognize these feelings and compose themselves. Then, agility typically takes place over multiple stages:

1. They acknowledge the sting, but don’t take it personally.
2. They label the emotion, like “I feel attacked and disappointed.”
3. They pause and reflect on what matters, such as delivering quality work.
4. They respond constructively by discussing improvements with their team.

This maintains momentum, protects relationships, and strengthens their credibility as a leader.

Scenario 2: Leading through change

New technologies and regulations may trigger the need to transform business structures and practices, especially in dynamic industries. This exposes many to the risk of losing their jobs.

EI allows you to recognize the stress and anxiety this generates, then offer the necessary moral support. Agility, however, goes beyond this. It helps you:

• Face your own uncertainties, as well as your teams’
• Avoid rash decisions, like sudden layoffs or even your resignation
• Make long-term decisions rooted in values (e.g. reskilling rather than replacing, offering career transition assistance)

How emotional agility boosts performance and team culture

Outside of personal growth, emotional agility offers organizations strategic advantages. We’ll explore these next. 

Reduces burnout

Burnout is a grave issue that plagues organizations today, but emotional agility mitigates this. It equips employees to:

• Identify stressors early
• Work out a plan of action
• Seek support when necessary

Rather than hiding their fatigue or discomfort, proficient individuals engage in self-care and establish boundaries—Dr. Susan David even points out how they effectively respond to stress and turn to values-based solutions.

Encourages accountability

Emotional agility instills a mindset of personal responsibility, since it emphasizes owning one’s thoughts, feelings, and actions. It prevents employees from falling into detrimental behaviors such as gaslighting or disengaging from difficult situations.

This purposeful and constructive conduct is extremely beneficial, as it ingrains leadership qualities throughout your workforce.

Builds resilience

As mentioned in an earlier example, organizational change is inevitable, especially in ever-evolving industries. This breeds fear, anxiety, and resistance, particularly when livelihoods are at stake.

Emotional agility, however, allows you and your personnel to process such feelings without succumbing to them. Ultimately, it positions you to bounce forward despite bleak circumstances.

The Niagara Institute also reports leaders who possess this resilience score 87% in leadership effectiveness, while those who don’t score a dismal 12%.

Open communication, psychological safety, and better performance

Transparent and respectful dialogue thrive in emotionally agile environments. Such settings give teams the freedom to ask questions, make mistakes, and express their concerns without fear of invalidation or retaliation.

This establishes psychological safety, which Google’s Project Aristotle reports as the top predictor of team success.

Enhances trust, collaboration, and innovation

Trust is the cornerstone of team cohesion, and people work together better when they know colleagues respond to emotions thoughtfully and constructively.

They welcome input, look out for each other, and respect individual perspectives—aspects that enable creative problem-solving as well.

Enhances decision-making and conflict resolution

Workplace conflict is unavoidable, as each person has their own approach to work. What matters most is how you navigate it. Agility allows you to handle disagreements without emotional escalation, since responses are rooted in shared goals rather than ego or blame.

It’s about keeping these in mind, even in tense situations:

• Staying curious instead of combative
• Looking for common values, not differences
• Pausing and reflecting on one’s reaction, then moving to resolution

This assists strategic decision-making as well, especially when under pressure.

Improves employee engagement and retention

Psychologically safe environments leave employees feeling that their emotional experiences are recognized, understood, and supported.

Agility enables this, thus making them more likely to remain committed. 1 in 4 organizations even report psychological safety as their top retention driver!

How to train your team in emotional agility

Developing emotional agility across your organization requires a proactive approach. While it begins at the individual level, it’s truly unlocked when entire teams practice it. Here are some cultural and practical strategies you can implement: 

Normalize conversations about emotions

Emotional expression is still dismissed or stigmatized in many workplaces. The first step, however, to build agility is to give employees permission to openly discuss how they feel—constructively and professionally.

You can incorporate these opportunities through regular check-ins, whether it be through individual or team meetings. Simply ask, “What’s one word that can describe how you’re feeling today?”

Anonymous pulse surveys are also good for tracking emotional well-being. Keeping identities hidden gives personnel the freedom to speak without dreading potential consequences.

Encourage leaders to model emotional agility

Culture is shaped from the top down. When managers and executives show empathy, vulnerability, accountability, and respond to emotions with accountability, they set the tone for everyone else. Have them share stories of how they’ve navigated emotional scenarios as well.

Incorporate emotional agility into your practices

For emotional agility to truly stick, it must become part of your organization’s natural rhythm, not just its one-off initiatives. To make this possible:

• Introduce it during the onboarding process: This teaches new hires desirable conduct early.
• Include emotional agility in performance reviews: This encourages employees to apply it regularly, making it a part of professional success.
• Recognize and reward positive behaviors: Whether it be through town halls or internal communication channels, incentivize supportive practices.

Invest in learning and development

Giving employees the tools and spaces to practice emotional agility accelerates their learning. Programs geared towards this endeavor are of great use.

Emotional intelligence programs

Emotional agility is built on EI, and Emovation’s customizable programs let you establish a strong foundation.

We utilize the latest research on neuroscience and motivation, designing each session to arm leaders with the expertise needed to navigate emotions and inspire high-performing teams. 

Psychological safety programs

Elevateminds’ Psychological Safety Program, meanwhile, augments your efforts to develop emotionally agile employees. It aims to create mentally healthy workplaces where employees can openly share their concerns without fear of ridicule or retaliation.

By cultivating trust, strong relationships, and accountability, cultures that prioritize transparency, innovation, and collaboration thrive.

Teach the four key steps of emotional agility

We briefly touched on how emotional agility uses an actionable framework to equip employees with practical skills. Learning its core components is critical to daily use.

1. Showing up

This involves acknowledging and accepting emotions without judgment—that they’re normal and not signs of weakness. For instance, rather than suppressing your feelings, it’s more conducive that you address them directly.

Embrace mindfulness as well. Stress management techniques such as meditation and deep breathing exercises help.

2. Stepping out

This involves creating psychological space between you and your emotions. Basically, it’s about practicing detachment.

You can frame your thoughts as mental events, not facts. Naming your emotion also guides your response. Think of how you can say, “I’m feeling anxious,” then take the necessary steps to alleviate it.

3. Walking your why

This step revolves around two essential activities:

• Tapping into your core values: Falling back on your beliefs ensures your decisions aren’t emotion-driven, even during high-stress moments. For instance, do you always want to treat others fairly?

• Treating emotions as data: Doing this allows you to objectively face emotions. Imagine a teammate upset about a project’s outcome. This could simply show that they care about its impact on stakeholders, not that they’re difficult to work with.

4. Moving on

The last part of the process entails taking action. When you and your colleague disagree on a specific task, for example, you may notice that the issue stems from contrasting work styles.

This could be resolved by simply discussing your individual approaches and meeting halfway, not forcing your perspectives onto each other. This prevents any emotional escalation as well.

Soliciting support from trusted colleagues can also help, especially when you’re having trouble navigating the situation.

Final thoughts: An emotionally agile workforce enhances organizational culture and performance

Emotions can be found in every corner of the workplace, like bursts of pride after successful projects or stings of criticism during performance reviews. Whatever the case, ignoring them doesn’t make them disappear—it just makes managing them more difficult.

Emotional agility, however, equips people to face these feelings with clarity and purpose. For leaders and employees, it’s a gateway to better performance, well-being, and decision-making. For organizations, its advantages are rooted in trust, resilience, and culture.

As change accelerates and work becomes more demanding, empathetic, adaptable, and values-driven teams will lead the way. If you want to learn how our EI Programs and Psychological Safety Program build them, get in touch! We’ll walk you through how they work.