HBR Guides to Emotional Intelligence at Work Collection (5 Books) (HBR Guide Series)

CHAPTER 28

How to Manage Your Emotional Culture

by Sigal Barsade and Olivia A. O’Neill

When people talk about “corporate culture,” they’re typically referring to cognitive culture: the shared intellectual values, norms, artifacts, and assumptions that serve as a guide for the group to thrive. Cognitive culture sets the tone for how employees think and behave at work—for instance, how customer-focused, innovative, team-oriented, or competitive they are or should be.

Cognitive culture is undeniably important to an organization’s success. But it’s only part of the story. The other critical part is what we call the group’s emotional culture: the shared affective values, norms, artifacts, and assumptions that govern which emotions people have and ...