First, you need to understand that these behaviors undermine the day-to-day operations of your company from small details to major decision-making. Would you ever add a feature to your product or service that hurt sales, marketing or retention? Of course not. But that is what you are doing when you act emotionally, or without proper thought or deliberation. It is your appreciation and understanding of these consequences that should help you shift your perspective.

Once you understand these consequences, it should be clear why. If you can’t evolve into an unemotional, deliberate and thoughtful leader, what are the impacts?

• Faith in Your Leadership. You want to be a true leader. You want to inspire others. You need people to plow ahead in the face of challenges. It’s plain and simple. Regardless of your talents and skills, when you react emotionally it makes people doubt whether you are the person that can take the company forward.
• Impact on Employees. You need employees to perform. You need employees to move the business forward and to take initiative when they are often underpaid and overworked. It becomes harder to motivate your team when the person running the show (You) seems unstable, haphazard or reactive.
• Impacts on Customers and Investors. Customers and investors can smell instability. When they see emotion they think things like, “How am I going to deal with this person when there is a problem?” and “How is this person going to deal with problems?” Customers and investors will choose to do business with people who work well under fire, and who collaborate professionally even when things aren’t going so well.
• Impacts on Vendors. Like customers and investors, vendors can sense when you are being emotional and reactive. You never want to be in a position in which a vendor can take advantage of you because they know how to manipulate your tendency to react. Don’t let your emotions undermine your ability to negotiate.

Once you realize that the consequences of this perspective are no less damaging than a poor product or poorly delivered service, you will start to police your behavior.