Emotions and business: How ‘the slap’ could cost Will Smith BIG time

Now, this is a story all about how Will’s life got flipped, turned upside down … and I’d like to take a minute, just sit right there, I’ll tell you how he became the petulant prince in a town built on hot air.

In an incident that has been the water cooler event of the week, Will Smith stormed the stage to strike Chris Rock during the 2022 Academy Awards broadcast, in such a heightened emotional state that his logic was barely able to get a dial tone.

The memes and reactions to the altercation have flooded the internet, undermining the ‘Will Smith’ brand forever.

The Fresh Prince cancelled?

There is lots to unpack, but the bare facts are that Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith’s medical condition, which prompted Will to peacock his way to the stage.

I have always been a fan of Will Smith and his work, and I have never particularly been a huge fan of Chris Rock. And yet, Will Smith has done such personal damage to his brand and reputation now that I find it hard to watch his family sit around a table and talk about love.

Don’t get me wrong – I know I am flawed and Will Smith is only human. And I love the idea of protective romanticism for Jada … but that’s not what this was. The action was inappropriate, disproportionate, and ill-timed.

Since Chris Rock’s brand has always been to joke and ridicule, I didn’t expect anything better from him, but I wanted better from the King-Richard-Fresh-Prince-action-man-movie-star.

Watch: Will Smith slapped Chris Rock onstage at the Oscars after taking offense to a joke he told about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith https://t.co/Or2veMdKpb pic.twitter.com/Ed7XmDDsvU

— TIME (@TIME) March 28, 2022

What place do emotions have in business and decision making?

It’s common to all humans that we allow our emotions to affect our decision making – it happens in relationships and in business every day. We do it from the schoolyard, to the boardroom … and so it seems, at the Academy Awards.

But this rash and impulsive decision was so emotionally turbo-charged by a man who, a mere thirty minutes later, won an Academy Award for best actor – a craft of vulnerability, empathy, and control of human emotions.

So, what was Smith thinking when he made the rash and impulsive decision to deck Rock? Well, as we can all likely empathise, sometimes we simply aren’t thinking. At some point in our careers and in business, we are all likely to make a not-so-genius decision.

The truth is, we all make rash decisions when logic is low and emotions surge – and those moments might make a great meme and a good story, but aren’t usually the most productive. Think of things that in hindsight you are least proud of in the workplace and business – from irritatingly hitting reply on an email, to impulse purchases, or leaders making a tough choice.

Get your emotions in check

As leaders and entrepreneurs, our emotions can instil us with empathy, our mind lends logic and rationale, but our gut also has a role to play in guiding our intuition.

To maintain civility, we often manage the conflict between our head, heart and instinct by keeping our emotions from spilling over into our work environment. But we are ultimately sentient and fallible beings, so it isn’t always possible to separate them.

Even considered choices can still lead to an unfavourable outcome. While we do need some emotion in making decisions, rash decisions can cloud judgement, and result when decisions and emotions collide.

The incident at the Oscars reminds all of us that being in the right headspace for making decisions means striking a balance between logic, emotions and instinct. Heck, it doesn’t even sound easy in theory, let alone with all the neurological synapses firing in the brain during an emotional moment.

Hunger, anger, anxiety and competitiveness are common emotions for humans – and especially for entrepreneurs. There are no intrinsically bad emotions, either – hunger can lead to determination, anger can motivate change, and of course, boredom can inspire creativity.

On the flipside, however, feelings of elation or excitement can also give us a reason to be cautious because they can make us underestimate the chance of risk; while feelings of sadness can stop us from seeing our own potential.

The biggest lesson of the Smith-Rock incident is not to let rash decisions undermine your brand, your goals and the bigger picture.

Take a step back when stressed, because the best choices are made when carefully considered. Sleep on it. And perhaps adopt a utilitarian approach. Acknowledge whatever you are feeling, and ask yourself whether you have considered alternative options, or perhaps you could do with a second opinion, or whether it really is the right time to act at all.

It may simply be better to stay seated and smile.

(Top image credit: ABC News)

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