Organisational Emotional Health
Background: Applying Emotional Health Levels to Organisations
The Emotional Health Level Model was originally developed to understand and support the vertical development of individuals. However, since organisations are fundamentally created by people and composed of people working together to achieve specific purposes, this powerful framework can be meaningfully extended to understand and develop organisational behaviour and culture.
Just as individuals operate from different levels of emotional health depending on their circumstances, stress levels, and developmental capacity, organisations demonstrate characteristic patterns of thinking, decision-making, and behaviour that can be understood through the lens of emotional health levels.
In the business world, we typically observe organisations operating primarily between emotional health levels 3 through 6. This range encompasses two levels 'above the line' (Levels 3 and 4) where organisations demonstrate conscious, values-driven, and stakeholder-aware approaches, and two levels 'below the line' (Levels 5 and 6) where organisations operate more reactively, with shorter-term focus and less conscious choice-making.
While less common, we occasionally observe pockets of organisational behaviour at Level 2 (Wisdom) in particularly evolved organisations
Emotional Health Levels Model
The Emotional Health Levels Model
Level 2 - Wisdom
At this level, an organisation demonstrates sustained periods of operating from altruistic and regenerative principles with exceptional integration of purpose, people, and performance. The organisation serves as a beacon and mentor for others in their industry, consistently making decisions that balance immediate needs with long-term societal benefit.
Key Characteristics:
- Executives regularly turn down profitable opportunities that don't align with long-term societal benefit
- Leadership teams include diverse voices from communities and ecosystem stakeholders
- Major decisions integrate wisdom from multiple sources including traditional knowledge systems
- The organisation proactively shares proprietary knowledge when it serves the greater good
Level 3 - Social Value
At this level, organisations hold and demonstrate an altruistic picture of how they can contribute to their community and the global difference they can make. They often use self-organizing principles and are highly adaptive and agile.
Key Characteristics:
- Leadership regularly asks "What serves the greater good?" in strategic planning
- Supply chain decisions prioritize local and regenerative sourcing
- Employee wellbeing programs extend to family and community support
- Innovation processes actively seek input from diverse community stakeholders
Level 4 - Recognition
At this level, organisations are conscious of the potential impact they can have in their sector and focus as much on how they do things as what they do. They are genuinely values-driven in their decision-making and operations.
Key Characteristics:
- Values are clearly articulated and consistently referenced in decision-making
- Regular reflection sessions on organisational behaviour and impact
- Employee development and growth pathways are well-defined and supported
- Customer service approaches prioritize relationship-building over transactions
Level 5 - Automated Response
At this level, organisations tend to focus on competition and performance of tasks with short-term goals and outcomes. They are reactive to issues and external factors and operate "like a machine" with emphasis on consistency and reliability.
Key Characteristics:
- Quarterly earnings dominate strategic discussions
- Standardized processes and procedures for most operations
- Customer relationships are primarily transactional
- Innovation is incremental and focused on competitive advantage
Level 6 - Exaggeration
At this level, organisations operate in survival mode, highly reactive and defensive in their responses. The primary focus is getting enough work/money to pay bills and keep doors open, operating from day to day with little long-term planning.
Key Characteristics:
- All decisions driven by immediate cash flow needs
- Rigid, top-down control with little employee input
- High turnover rates and difficulty retaining talent
- Customer relationships are unstable and often contentious
Moving Between Emotional Health Levels
Organisations can move between emotional health levels based on various factors including external pressures, leadership changes, resource availability, stakeholder expectations, and organisational learning capacity.
Organisations seeking to develop to higher emotional health levels benefit from:
- Leadership development: Increasing consciousness and choice-making capacity
- Systems thinking: Understanding interconnections and broader impact
- Stakeholder engagement: Expanding perspective beyond immediate interests
- Values clarification: Articulating and integrating organisational purpose
- Feedback systems: Creating mechanisms for continuous learning and adaptation