The F-word we still dread at work today

Welcome to corporate zombie mode

Picture an early morning before work. Cars crawling through traffic, drivers cursing at delays, and taxis cutting in! Parents juggling breakfast chaos while fielding urgent emails. The WiFi crashes during a client presentation setup. Kids fighting in the background as you frantically search for your headphones. Raw human emotion everywhere – road rage, deadline panic, family stress, tech frustration.

Then the workday officially begins. Whether you walk through office doors and sit at desks, or log into video calls from your kitchen table – suddenly, nothing. All that intensity, all that very human emotion, magically disappears. Time to begin another day of going through the motions.

Except emotions don't really disappear, do they? They just get bottled up, suppressed, pushed underground where they simmer and impact every interaction, every decision, every relationship - whether we acknowledge them or not.

How many times have you been told you're "too emotional" when you spoke up about something that mattered? Too aggressive in meetings. Too passionate about something. Too sensitive to feedback. The message is clear: emotions have no place here.

The F-word? Feelings. The dreaded F-word we still avoid at work today.

Welcome to corporate zombie mode – the grey zone – where we've trained an entire generation of professionals to disconnect from their feelings the moment they enter work mode.

This is exactly what my book MOAR! Making work magic inside and out is about – the momentum and mastery that comes when you stop suppressing your feelings and start bringing your whole self to work.

When I recently sat down with Lindsey Agnes, founder and CEO of Team NLP, on my latest ROAR for MOAR podcast episode "From Corporate Zombie Mode to Thriving with NLP" she shared a simple, yet powerful story that shows how we can break free from this emotional numbness.

The active listening breakthrough

A senior leader with 20 years' experience sat in Lindsey's NLP training. Someone who'd gone through the ranks: respected, successful, results driven. The epitome of professional success.

But also, a corporate zombie – operating on autopilot.

Lindsay was running an active listening exercise she'd almost skipped. "I must admit, I thought about whether I should include this because surely everybody knows this," she told me. But she decided to run the exercise anyway.

A few weeks after the training he called Lindsey… 

"You know what, that listening exercise has really changed the way I manage my people. What I realised was that for 20 years, I've always just been on transmit. And when people were trying to talk to me, I was just thinking about what I want to reply, or my mind was off thinking about something else. Now I'm making a conscious effort to be in the moment with people, to really listen to them and explore what's important to each individual. My team has noticed – they're telling me I've become much more empathetic. It's incredible how such a simple shift in being fully present has transformed my relationships."

Listen to our full conversation "From Corporate Zombie Mode to Thriving with NLP" here 

As we continued our conversation, Lindsey revealed what's really happening: "We almost leave our, leave the F-word, leave feelings at the door. We process around 60,000 thoughts per day, and for many of us, these thoughts actually "stop us from bringing the magic to the workplace and to our lives."

How many of your circa 60,000 daily thoughts are keeping you in zombie mode?

Lindsay describes NLP as "an instruction manual for the brain." As she beautifully puts it, helping people "understand what's important to them" because "a lot of this stuff, it's there, but it's pretty unconscious until somebody gives you a key to unlock all of that knowledge about yourself."

Breaking free from professional numbness

You don't need a complete personality transplant. You need one small shift: Give yourself permission to stop checking your feelings at the door.

What if this week you tried:

• Asking "How are you really?" and waiting for real answers
• Acknowledging when emotions are present rather than pretending they don't exist
• Actually listening when people speak (not formulating your response)

As Lindsay discovered with her client, "it can be small things that make a big difference." When they reviewed that leader's progress months later, his staff were giving feedback that he had become genuinely empathetic – simply by coming out of transmit mode and learning to receive. He discovered his real potential lay in active listening and authentic connection, not perfecting his performance.

The little things are not the big things, the little things truly are everything.

Your invitation to bring your whole self to work

Human energy is the new currency – how we show up "with energy, with positive vibes" is what really matters. As Tony Robbins says, "where focus goes, energy flows." If you're focused on the good stuff, you get the good stuff. Focus on the glass-half-empty, and you get heavy, contracted feelings that ultimately drag you down.

Emotional intelligence is how you become energetically wealthy – learning to shift your focus, raise how you feel, and show up lighter and better.

Here's the reality: Emotions are already driving every decision, every innovation, every breakthrough. Your emotional intelligence - or lack thereof - will either serve as your competitive advantage or become your professional liability.

Which will you choose?

My book MOAR! Making Work Magic Inside & Out launches Nov/Dec 2025, exploring how personal transformation and professional excellence intersect. Sign up to my email list to be first to know when it's available and receive exclusive insights on heart-centred leadership.

#CourageOverComfort #AuthenticLeadership #EmotionalIntelligence #WorkplaceWellbeing #CorporateZombieMode #ROAR #MOAR