By Penny Power – Business Author & Human-Centred Speaker
Each week I write my thoughts and call them my ‘Ponderings’. I reflect on the deep emotional undercurrents that shape our personal and professional lives, I rely on a moment of reflection, something in the past week that moved me deeply, and I can share to help anyone who is resonating/vibing, with similar thoughts.
This week, I want to start with something personal, as Business Is Personal.
I hold a fierce and loving commitment to the people in my world, family, friends, clients, and suppliers. I want them to feel their significance in my life. I want them to know they matter. They hold that special place as they allow me to contribute to their journey, and in turn, they contribute profoundly to mine. That shared contribution, seen and felt, provides significance to each of us, it is the heartbeat of connection.
But what happens when that heartbeat slows?
It is hard to deny that at times emotional threads fray, not through cruelty but through neglect? The truth is, we’re already witnessing the risks of disconnection, in companies, cultures, and communities.
If we all, as business people, don’t get more emotionally engaged with our clients and staff now, we are stepping into a perfect storm. The risks aren’t abstract anymore; they’re already showing up in the cracks of culture, customer loyalty, and performance.
I pondered before writing this and here are the 10 greatest risks I see.
- People are stretched thin and emotionally overwhelmed. The outcome is a rise in emotional detachment. Transactional leadership and communication is all around us. Task based communication, “do this for me”, “let me win this from you” only deepens the drift. You lose the ‘stickiness’ that holds loyalty together.
- In life and in business we can Quietly Quit from the inside: People no longer walk out in protest. They stay around you but disengage. Emotional disconnection reduces contribution, not out of defiance, but because emotional safety powers our ability to be open, vulnerable and caring.
- Commoditisation of your business: Without emotional connection, your offer becomes just another option. Especially in an AI-driven world, empathy , deep interest and loving communication becomes your competitive edge.
- Breakdown of trust: Trust erodes quietly. Leaders, Business Owners, we are all human. However, when we are emotionally distant, people start to doubt. And doubt interrupts commitment long before a relationship officially ends.
- Increased conflict and misunderstanding: Unspoken emotions don’t disappear, they leak. I know that the relationships I fight for, even in conflict, are the ones that really matter to me. When people feel unseen, through tension, resistance, miscommunication, and burnout, they stop contributing and start protecting themselves.
- Higher churn in clients and staff: Emotional disconnection leads to physical departure or mental checkout. Both are costly. People stay where they feel seen and safe.
- Declining innovation and bravery: Creativity requires safety. If your team or clients don’t feel emotionally connected, they won’t share early warnings or bold ideas. Fear replaces flow.
- Loss of meaning and purpose: When connection fades, work and relationships become mechanical. Relationships turn transactional. We all start the day firefighting rather than inspiring.
- The vulnerability gap: When we have ‘transactional relationships’ we suppress emotions, a rift opens. People can start to say, quietly “They don’t get me. I’m alone.” That fracture breaks psychological safety.
- The ultimate risk, irrelevance: Those of us that thrive aren’t just cognitively smart. We are emotionally attuned. We notice the emotional climate around us. Without that, connection, and growth slip away.
This week, I invite you to ponder:
- Who in your world needs to feel their emotional significance to you?
- Where might emotional engagement deepen trust and performance?
- And how can you protect the heartbeat of connection, even as the world races on?
With love, Penny x
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