Women: Stop Crying at Work
Many women have been there. I’ve been there. But unlike Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, who’s famously cried at work (and kinda sorta suggested it to other women), I believe we actually need a separation of the professional self and the personal self.
Unless you’re some kind of “personality” who was hired specifically to bring increased business to your company based on your “brand,” for most of the female workforce, an organization has hired you to perform a service for them. That’s it. It’s a daily transaction — you show up, complete tasks, receive a paycheck — that has nothing to do with your personal life. And while I think it’s important to be yourself around your coworkers and your boss, I also think women have a hard time remembering that their jobs are not what defines them as people, let alone as women. Depending on how you’re viewed at your place of employment, whether you’re successful or not, you may have begun to base your personal identity on what goes on in your professional environment. And that’s all fine and dandy…until it’s not. Then you’re crying at your desk.
I’m not talking about when you lose a loved one or are going through a hard time personally. I’m talking about when something unsettling happens in your professional situation and it upsets you to the point that you’re crying at work. We already have a hard enough time, sisters. In case you’re not reminded often enough, allow me to say it again: we make 77 cents to the dollar. The reasons behind that statistic are wide-reaching, but am I the only one who thinks the fact that we are perceived as “too emotional” plays some part?
Bottom line: It’s not that serious! Did someone die? Did you ruin anyone’s life forever and ever? Oh no, did you make someone…upset by making a mistake? Welcome to earth. I don’t think it’s wrong to cry or feel like you want to cry or get so upset by something at work that you actually shed tears about it, just try to hold it in until you’re 15 feet away from the building.
