Nearly every female executive I’ve talked with has admitted to crying at work. I admit that even I have. I worked for a travel agency before I had my baby. It was a very stressful job and at times when I could not strike a proper balance between work and home I did break up. I was more emotional during my pregnancy days when I found it difficult to cope up. I remember when I was 7 months pregnant my senior colleague took leave and dumped all her files on to my table. Since I was a workaholic I patiently managed all somehow. It was getting too tiring and I had to go to office even on a weekend to complete work ...at which point I burst out silently at my cubicle.
I later read an article by a psychotherapist which helped me and I would like to share it with you. There are 7 steps which women could follow in situations like this.
1. Anticipate such emotionally charged situations and prepare responses.
2.Increase your self-awareness. Try to figure out if
you’re crying because you’re actually angry. If that’s the case, take a
deep breath and focus on solving the problem that’s making you angry.
Re-focusing on the problem will help you calm down.
3. Women often cry when they feel overwhelmed with work
or if their efforts go unrecognized. We have to learn to cultivate a sense of
optimism—to realize things generally work out.
4. Compartmentalize — If you frequently cry at the
office, your personal life may be intruding on your business life.
Create a boundary between the two. And seek support to help you in your
personal life.
5. Women are sensitive to personal criticism. Even
though this hurts, learn to retrain yourself. You might try focusing on
your breathing and using relaxation techniques to slow down your
reactions and to gain control.
6. Another technique is to focus on Content instead of the Criticism. For example, talk about how you can get the reports in more quickly rather than on the remark, “You’re too slow.”
7. And if you must, excuse yourself from the room.
So, did you ever cry at your work place?? If yes please share your experiences and then how you dealt with the situation later..
