Five Lessons for Keeping Your Emotions in Check at Work

Do you cry at movies? Do touching commercials make you tear up? Do you get weepy when you say goodbye, stub your toe or sing sad songs? While Olympic athletes and Oscar winners can get away with crying on the job, most of us are better off keeping our tears out of the workplace.

It's true that being in touch with your emotions can be good for your overall well-being, but crying in front of the boss or in the office can have negative effects on your career. While some emotional outbursts, such as anger, are accepted in some environments, tears are often seen as a sign of weakness. Belinda Brin is a senior organizational development specialist at AAIM Management Association, an organization that provides training, networking, education and other services to St. Louis-area businesses. She says crying in the workplace can have negative consequences for professionals, particularly women, and that being able to control your emotions is a sign of maturity. "Crying can absolutely make or break a career," she says. "And it becomes a bigger issue the higher up you go in an organization."