As anyone who has been on one of my Leadership, Line Management or Influencing training courses will tell you I like to quote old Aristotle and his theory of Ethos, Pathos and Logos. That’s not the Three Musketeers (though that’s how I remember them) but the triangle of values, emotions and logic that Aristotle claimed were inextricably linked.

Around 2000 years later science is proving him correct. A report in the Wall Street Journal details the findings of fascinating new research in a field called ‘Neuroeconomics’, which shows that there is a link between emotions and financial decision making.

The research found that people with a certain type of brain damage made better investment decisions in the study, but interestingly that didn’t necessarily translate into financial success in the real world.

Those whose emotions were inhibited took higher risk decisions because they don’t feel fear. But sometimes, in the real world, that fear is sensible and stops us making overly risky decisions.

It’s something we all kind of know but it’s nice to have it verified.

The implications for leadership and management are interesting.

For ourselves it might be that we need to consider what emotional and ethical factors are influencing our decisions. Human beings are adept at making a decision based on emotions and then evidence gathering to support the decision in an attempt to prove it’s logical.

And next time someone makes a decision you don’t understand and that seems completely illogical, it’s worth considering what emotional or ethical constraints they were operating under.

When you’re trying to influence someone else’s decision making, try looking for emotional and ethical arguments to support your facts.

It’s only logical!