For all the beauty and fellowship around us, sometimes life is hard. Event’s in the last few weeks, months and years have hurt us in our ethics, souls, hearts. But short term or long, originating at home, work or elsewhere in life, we go through a range of emotions that don’t magically vanish when we are at work.
A recent article by Ludmila Praslova on LinkedIn really struck a chord with me. The article is titled “How to practice Emotional Inclusion at Work[1]” and talks about emotional health. There are some great reasons why acknowledging our emotional selves at work is essential and how they contribute to a better workplace. Also there are some good ways to support emotional inclusion.
Authenticity. Wellbeing. Belonging. Without emotional inclusion, these are empty words and empty commitments.
Something I learnt, back when I was an actor doing conflict resolution role play gigs, is that when someone is angry or upset, saying “calm down” or “don’t cry”, rarely achieves its goal. What does work consistently is acknowledging the emotion. No matter how we might disagree with the message on top, emotion is a real thing, and acknowledging that can start a process of empathy and understanding leading to a resolution.
Belonging at work is essential to our well-being. And emotional inclusion is a major element of supporting that sense of belonging.
There are some incredible orgs and professionals in the Tessitura community, actively supporting one another with emotional integrity and safety. How are some ways that you prefer to find emotional inclusion at work?
[1] https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-practice-emotional-inclusion-work-toxic-ludmila/