On the sleeve
Oddball Leaders show emotion. Sometimes they cry, even.
(Content warning: this post addresses the dangers of emotional suppression, and links to a 2016 study published by the National Institutes of Health that links youth mental illness and suicidal ideation with emotional suppression.)
I have always been an emotional — and emotive — person.
Unfortunately, showing emotion was not something I was necessarily encouraged to do growing up — and certainly it was not something you did in public!
I guarantee I am not alone in this — it certainly feels like, in a traditional American context, emoting is actually shameful.
We bristle at the idea of showing emotion, especially in the workplace — crying means weakness and mental instability, and happiness and enthusiasm are perceived as annoying. If nothing else, being privy to someone else’s emotions can be downright uncomfortable.
I have learned over the years that bottling up emotions instead of acknowledging and leaning into them causes far more harm than crying in front of a co-worker could ever be.
