Lead the First Minute: Emotional Contagion at Work
The opener sets the room’s rhythm. Before anyone reads a slide, people mirror the tone in front of them, then look for cues that confirm it. A steady, upbeat first minute nudges attention, lowers defensiveness, and shortens the path to alignment.
Psych-wise, this is emotional contagion: we catch feelings from one another through quick, often unconscious mimicry. Classic work by Elaine Hatfield and colleagues shows how shared affect spreads person to person; Sigal Barsade’s group studies found that a single upbeat confederate could lift cooperation, reduce conflict, and even raise perceived performance for the whole team. In short, mood moves through a group like a current, and leaders sit near the switch.
Ritz-Carlton builds this into daily practice. The hotel’s “Daily Line-Up” happens across properties every day, year-round. Leaders open with a short values reminder and a quick service win, then teams roll into the day with a common tone and focus. It’s a simple ritual that standardizes the emotional cue at scale, and it’s lasted because it works.
To put this to work, script your first minute. Start with purpose, share one fresh win, name the decision for today, then hand off with a calm, forward-leaning cue. Keep your face and voice relaxed; invite a single, fast round of acknowledgments if the room is tense. Close the meeting by reflecting the tone you want carried to the next room. Do it every time and the culture remembers even when you forget.
Need help getting started? Ask yourself these questions:
) If someone clipped only your first 60 seconds from the last three meetings, what emotion would they label—and is that the mood you want copied to the rest of the hour?
) What’s your repeatable opener for tomorrow: one line of purpose, one fresh win, one decision to make, one calm handoff—and what filler will you cut that blunts the tone?
) Who else reliably sets the room’s baseline in your org, and how will you rotate or coach them so the “first minute” effect isn’t dependent on you alone?
