Embracing Emotion - Lisa Thompson, Bloom North President & Business Director at Wavemaker North

In the world of business, emotions are often viewed as a weakness, particularly when it comes to women. In this insightful blog full of shocking statistics, brilliant insights, and great advice, Lisa Thompson tells us why she believes embracing your emotions is beneficial for everyone, and for the bottom line.

Lisa Thompson, Bloom North President & Business Director at Wavemaker North

Real talk, I imagine every woman reading this blog has received feedback about the emotions they display at work. You may have been criticised for crying at work, or you could have been labelled bossy, abrupt, or lacking senior presence. You smile too much or too little.

And we all know these criticisms often extend beyond personal feedback and critique of social groups. We're very quick to label a girl squad as cliquey and gossipy, but we never hear this about a group of lads. Women live in a world of cliches which is frustrating and anger-inducing. You can tell this by the fury women felt after the police released that Nicola Bulley was struggling with menopause. These hurtful stereotypes of women's emotions are dangerous.

Now I 100% believe we need to stop using harmful language that is only used about women and their relationship with their emotions. These stereotypes don't just sting but create viewpoints that affect how women are seen in the workplace. Today, 13% of Americans state that women are less suited to politics than men, because of their emotionality. We must stop emotions and displays from them being seen as negative.

The theme of International Women's Day in 2023 is Embrace. The dictionary definition of Embrace is to cherish or to accept something willingly. And so, instead of rallying against emotion in the workplace, we should embrace it. But it's not just embracing feeling; it's changing the narrative that being emotional can be a business' superpower.

Full disclosure, I am a bit emotional, and long time I fought against this. I thought to succeed; I needed to remove the emotion from my work self to achieve. However, I now know I am better at work and in life when I don't fight against this. I present better, manage people better, and am a better team player. I am a better strategist because I can use my empathy to understand audiences and clients. I know when I show my vulnerability, I am better. Yes, I have learnt to manage my mental well-being better and don't cry as frequently as I did, but now I don't hide from my emotion. And this isn't just true of me; a Harvard Business Review states that when people are willing to be authentic (and vulnerable) at work, they're also more willing to take creative risks. In our industry, this is just good for business.

Jacinda Arden, one of my biggest girl crushes has talked about this. In one interview, she states:

'One of the criticisms I've faced over the years is that I'm not aggressive enough or assertive enough, or maybe somehow, because I'm empathetic, it means I'm weak. I totally rebel against that. I refuse to believe you cannot be compassionate and strong.'

And there could never be a more accurate statement. And let's be honest, when we look at Jacinda's achievements, we all wish we had this empathy in the UK.

As president of Bloom North, one of my favourite things about our girl squad is that we have created programmes that make it okay to talk about how we feel, whether via mentoring or at our events, where we discuss the emotional toil of menopause or fertility treatment. The powerful displays of raw emotion at these events are helping our industry be more human. It allows our network to feel more comfortable and display their feelings in other settings. So this International Women's day, let's embrace the fact that women often are more openly emotional and empathetic because if we do, we may have a more human workforce. And hey, let's embrace that sometimes a cry is exactly what you need.

Thank you so much, Lisa!

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