THE EMOTIONAL LIFE OF ORGANISATIONS
What’s the
weather like
at work?
Feelings do not stay inside people. They shape what a team notices, says and does.
Make a weather reportFROM THE BOOK
Feelings do things at work.
After a successful launch, the people who delivered it feel exhausted, even as the congratulations keep coming. A manager praises someone for being “resilient”, then gives them another difficult job. Elsewhere, a colleague spots a risk but stays quiet because the last person who raised bad news was blamed.
Exhaustion, the pressure to keep coping and fear of blame all affect what people take on and what they feel able to say. In The Emotional Life of Organisations, I explore the gap between what people experience and what others get to see.
This report helps you notice that gap. Choose the feelings you think may be present, then look for examples and ask the people involved whether you have understood them.
The response we experience, sometimes in the body.
The name and meaning we give that response.
The part that others get to see at work.
Pick the words that seem present in the organisation right now. You can hold more than one feeling at once.
THE CHECK-IN
Name the climate.
Choose up to three emotions, or add a word of your own. Think about what you have heard and seen this week, rather than what you hope people feel.
Use a single feeling word or a short phrase.
YOUR WORKING FORECAST
What might be happening?
These are possibilities to check with people, not a diagnosis of the organisation. A leader’s view is only one view.
ABOUT THE CREATOR
Dr Mike Drayton
Dr Mike Drayton writes about something we often prefer not to talk about at work: feelings. His books explore how emotions and relationships influence the way we lead, make decisions, deal with pressure and behave with each other.
Mike is a leadership coach and clinical psychologist. Much of his work is concerned with understanding why perfectly sensible people can behave in surprisingly irrational ways at work, particularly when they are under pressure, anxious or uncertain.
His latest book, The Emotional Life of Organisations, was a finalist in the Business Book Awards 2026 and was Highly Commended in its category. It looks at how emotions shape leadership, decision-making, culture and organisational performance. His previous books include Leading Hybrid Organisations, Anti-Burnout and The Saboteur at Work.
Mike's career has taken him through some very different worlds, including clinical psychology in the NHS and work with the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. Earlier experiences include working as a London bus driver and as a paramedic, where he was among those who responded to the Clapham rail disaster. These very different settings have given him plenty of opportunities to see how people behave when things do not go according to plan.
Mike was educated at the London School of Economics, the University of Birmingham and Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford. He is a Senior Practitioner with the European Mentoring and Coaching Council.
Visit Mike's website