Meet the person, not the suit.

They used to say, “Remove emotion from business. It’s business, not personal.”

But human beings cannot remove emotion from business, because we do not receive information as neutral machines. We absorb words, actions, tone, facial expressions, body language, status, fairness and intent. Our brains interpret those signals automatically, and they create an internal response before we have necessarily made a conscious decision about what they mean.

What we can choose is not whether we have an emotional response, but how we understand, regulate and express it.

A business decision may not be motivated by personal dislike, but it will still be experienced personally by the people affected. That is why professionalism should not mean pretending emotion does not exist. It should mean recognising the human impact, communicating honestly and respectfully, and taking responsibility for how decisions are delivered.

Too often, “It’s business, not personal” is used as permission for poor behaviour, as though calling something commercial removes the need for empathy, dignity or accountability. Sometimes it is a legitimate explanation that a difficult decision was not personally motivated. But it should never be used as an excuse to treat people badly.

Business decisions may be impersonal in their rationale, but they are always human in their delivery and impact.