
It is possible that not all moods are equally infectious. One study, by
the Yale School of Management in 1999, indicated that fun and
laughter catch on more readily than irritability, which in turn was
more infectious than depression.
The one important caveat is that the positive mood that a leader
attempts to inculcate in the team must be genuine. After all, if a
grinning executive who has just made a series of redundancies and
cashed in some lucrative share options begins talking about how
great the company is, this is not going to prompt the staff in the
cubicles to start whistling, ‘Oh, What a Beautiful Morning’ and go
home with smiles on their faces. ...