In this episode of The Leader's Kitbag, host Ben Morton explains how a leader’s emotional state is quickly sensed by their team—a phenomenon known as emotional contagion—and why it matters for team performance. He argues that while leaders can’t always control external events, they can control their internal state in the moments before they engage with others. Morton introduces a brief, evidence‑based breathing method called the physiological sigh—a two‑step inhale followed by a sighing exhale—that can trigger a rapid calming response in the nervous system. To bridge the gap between knowing the technique and actually using it, he recommends setting three daily phone alarms (start of day, lunch, end of day) labeled with a breathing cue, and using each alarm as a prompt to perform a 30‑second reset (the sigh or three deep breaths). Over time, this habit becomes automatic, allowing leaders to consistently show up with a calm, focused presence, thereby improving their own performance and the emotional climate of their teams.
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Hi there, I'm Ben Morton, and welcome to The Leader's Kitbag, the podcast that delivers practical leadership insights in less than 10 minutes. Each episode tackles a real challenge faced by leaders and managers with simple ideas and tools you can take away and apply immediately. And because leadership doesn't happen sitting behind a desk, Many of these episodes are recorded outside whilst I'm walking and thinking. They're informal, unscripted, and straight to the point. So, wherever you are, let's get started and sharpen your leadership skills one episode at a time.
Think about the last time you walked into a conversation still carrying something from the meeting before it. You probably walked in, sat down, went through the motions without realising there's potentially a large gap between how you thought you were showing up and how others actually experienced you. Research on emotional contagion tells us that our team picks up on our mood or state within seconds of us entering the room. So if we turn up to a meeting or even work first thing on any given day stressed, distracted, or still mentally in the previous meeting or conversation, that shows, and our team will pick up on it. And as I said in the last episode of the Leaders Kitbag, states are contagious. So if we do walk into a meeting still bringing with us stuff emotions from the last meeting, then that doesn't just affect our performance, but it affects everyone's performance around us. Yes, it's absolutely true that we can't always control what happens to us— a difficult conversation or frustrating email perhaps. But what we can absolutely control is what we do in the moments before we show up for for our customers, colleagues, or people that we lead. And it doesn't have to take long. Just 30 seconds can be enough to reset our state. And one of the best tools we have to manage our state is our breathing. And yes, I know you've probably heard of breathing exercises before, as had I, and I really genuinely wanted to use them. But there was a problem. In the moments when I really needed to use those breathing exercises, I'd always forget because there was no trigger or prompt to help me. And I suspect the same is probably true for you, right? And when we're under pressure, our sympathetic nervous system fires up. Our heart rate rises, our thinking narrows, we become much more reactive. But by using some of these breathing techniques, we can activate the parasympathetic system, which quietens some of the noise in our head, enables us to think more clearly and become more focused and present. I've got one lesser-known breathing technique to share with you. It's called the physiological sigh, and here's how you do it. You take one long deep breath in through your nose, completely filling your lungs. Then you take another shorter breath in through your nose before doing a big exhale, making a sigh as you do it. Done deliberately, it creates one of the fastest calming responses your nervous system is capable of. Now, this is where we get super practical. Knowing about these breathing exercises and actually using them when we need them are two very different things. So if you want to close what I call the knowing-doing gap, here's how to do it. Set 3 alarms on your phone. One for just before you start work, one around lunchtime, and one towards the end of your working day. And label them with something that relates to breathing. Breathe, reset, state, whatever works for you. And when those alarms go off, do the physiological sigh or just take 3 long deep breaths. 30 seconds and you're done. And this isn't about sitting underneath a tree creating a meditation practice. It's about building the habit of pausing before we show up for for other people. And over time, you won't need the alarms because the pause becomes automatic. Leadership asks a lot of us. It asks us to show up consistently, even on the bad days. And as I said at the start of this episode, whilst we can't always control what's on our plate, we can control how we show up, what energy we transmit to other people, and our state when we walk into a meeting. And sometimes 30 seconds is all it takes. That's it for today's episode of The Leader's Kitbag. I hope it's been useful, and as always, look after yourself and those you've got the privilege and responsibility to lead. Until next time, lead on.
