The Importance of Emotional Intelligence In Kreamer´s Article Go Ahead - Cry At Work

For decades men have dominated the work force of America. It was not until recently that women began entering the business world and to this day they continue to battle for equality in the workplace. Leadership positions and salary negotiations are what normally come to mind when discussing the obstacles that women face at work. An article that appeared in Time Magazine called “Go Ahead- Cry at Work”, by Anne Kreamer, discusses Kreamer’s personal challenges with expressing her emotions at work, along with the overall struggle that women face when trying to find a “socially appropriate way to express legitimate anger in the workplace” (Kreamer). The article discusses the need not to eliminate emotion from the work place, as many people currently do, but that “emotions are who we are” (Kreamer) and we should embrace them when they come about. Kreamer argues that women should being able to express negative emotion at work without being seen as unprofessional or weak. “This is not to suggest that being embarrassed, frustrated, or upset at work is inappropriate but rather that when colleagues show emotion, we should learn to interpret why those particular feelings were triggered”. Through personal experiences, research and surveys, the author found many employees, men and women combine are unsure as to how to express their emotion in the workplace.

“Go Ahead- Cry at Work” illustrates many organizational behavior topics, that we have discussed in class including emotions in the workplace, emotional ability, gender diversity, and stereotyping. Through personal narrative Anne Kreamer is able to show how a lack of emotional intelligence can hurt not only individuals of a company, but their commitment to the organization. Through numero...

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... at work. My coworkers saw it as a sign of weakness and proceeded to make fun of my sensitivity for the rest of my employment. They were unaware of how their comments affected me and therefore had low emotional intelligence. Eventually, my emotions were building up inside of me and I did not want to have an angry outburst, therefore I decided to quit my job.

While I think that it is important to show emotion in the workplace, it needs to be done in a controlled way by keeping others feelings in mind. I have always been aware of the stereotyping women receive as to being more sensitive than men, however I was surprised to see that women were being penalized for showing stronger emotion in the workplace. It seems to me that women not only have to work harder to earn the same salary as men, but now they are to work harder to find a happy medium for their emotions.