What's your mood like this morning?

Author

John Drysdale
June 02, 2026 • Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

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How are you arriving at work this morning ?

  • Energised by what today could bring?

  • Dreading that quarterly review?

  • Calm and clear about navigating unavoidable cost cuts ?

  • Still frustrated for being blamed for that budget shortfall?

  • Feeling there is little point in chasing that lost account ?

     

  • Curious about new ideas your team will bring today?

Moods do far more than influence how we feel

I often hear people talk about their moods as if they were just background emotional weather.

But our moods influence what we notice.


How we respond to opportunities and interpret setbacks.


The possibilities we can imagine.


Whether we withdraw and defend, or engage and explore.

And because people experience our moods through our body language, tone of voice and presence, moods can be contagious.

They can strongly influence the impact we have on colleagues.

Alan Sieler and colleagues at the Ontological Coaching Institute have developed some powerful insights into moods — where they come from, and how they can shape the way we lead.

One insight that I’ve found particularly useful is that when we face situations at work, we tend to take a stance towards them:

  1. Some realities we can change.

  2. Some we don’t believe we can.

  3. And some we are just not sure about .

The stance we take towards those situations often shapes the mood we enter:

Resisting what cannot be changed can leave us stuck in resentment.
Believing that nothing can change can lead to resignation and inaction. Struggling with uncertainty can easily lead to anxiety.

Acceptance can ease tension, create calmness and restore focus.
Curiosity can open up exploration.
And ambition can create movement towards a different future.

So when we find ourselves triggered by a situation at work, it may be worth asking:

  • Am I resisting something I cannot change?

  • Have I stopped believing things can improve?

  • Am I struggling with uncertainty?

  • What mood is this situation pulling me towards?

  • And what possibilities might become available from a different stance?

Steve Jobs offers us a compelling example

Forced out of Apple in 1985, he later admitted feeling devastated. Resignation would have been understandable.

He could easily have concluded that his best work was behind him.

Instead , he stayed engaged with possibility - continuing to experiment, and explore through ventures like NeXT and Pixar.

In 1997, he returned to Apple and led one of the most remarkable business turnarounds in corporate history.

The setback didn’t define what happened next.

His response to it helped shape what became possible afterwards.

Steve Jobs

We all encounter situations at work that can pull us towards resentment, resignation or anxiety.

The question is whether we notice the mood we are entering — and the impact it may already be having on the people around us.

So perhaps a useful question for this morning is:

What mood am I bringing into today?

And what possibilities might it be opening up — or closing down?

If this resonates with challenges you’re navigating in your own organisation and you’d welcome a conversation.

‘Til next time.

John