Emotional Aperture and Strategic Renewal: The Accurate Recognition of Collective Emotions

Abstract

This article introduces emotional aperture, defined as the ability to recognize patterns of specific collective emotions. We show how emotional aperture can help leaders recognize and deal with diverse collective emotions that arise during strategic renewal and other emotionally turbulent processes. We describe key psychological-cultural enablers and impediments, moreover, to achieving the necessary focus and accuracy required for an effective emotional aperture in organizations. This article provides an initial conceptualization of how leaders can adjust their focus to group-level emotions and thus complement existing notions of emotional abilities (e.g., emotional intelligence), which focus on individual-level emotions.

Keywords: strategic renewal, emotions, emotional intelligence, group emotions, leadership, culture

JEL Classification: M00, M12