Want a Better Workplace? Let People be Angry.

Photo by Егор Камелев on Unsplash

When you take the time to understand the purpose of emotions, you start to see the value they can add to your work (and life).

Emotions are not arbitrary. While they might sometimes feel like inconveniences, they are doing important work in the background.

Curiosity, for example, expands your perspective, increases your desire for exploration and learning, and enables you to build resources - new knowledge, ideas, experiences, relationships - which promotes resiliency.

Curiosity tells you there’s potential value in a situation.

Anger on the other hand narrows your perspective and prompts heightened awareness of personal boundaries. In many cases, this can lead to confrontation, avoidance, or other limited strategies.

But anger isn't a bad emotion and curiosity a good one.

Anger alerts us to possible injustices and unfair treatment. It tells us that something important to us might be threatened.

When channeled constructively, it encourages us to problem-solve, be assertive, advocate for change, and set boundaries in relationships.

Like curiosity, it has the potential to strengthen resilience by fostering adaptability and facilitating the resolution of conflicts.

While we might strive to build a workplace that generates curiosity in people, the same can't be said about anger.

We obviously don't want to treat people unfairly or threaten them. However, even in the best workplaces, people will feel anger from time-to-time.

What we want is a workplace where people feel safe expressing it, have the emotion skills to do so constructively, and feel comfortable working with others to address it in a positive way.

People will feel angry (sad, frustrated, jealous, anxious) at work. Denying their ability to express it doesn't make it go away. Instead, it robs workplaces (and people) the chance to reap the benefits of it.

A good workplace is one that sees the wisdom in all emotions.