In a trust-based organization where people are valued, crying is recognized as a fundamental way that human beings respond to the world around them. There are many reasons why we cry, and one of them is when we touch into the energy of what really matters to us. THAT's the energy that a conscious organization thrives on ... a shared purpose and an embodiment of our core values that moves us to tears at times.

I remember with fondness overhearing a conversation of a colleague who was inviting an emotionally upset business acquaintance to come to our offices to talk. The business acquaintance expressed reluctance to come because she knew she would likely be crying. My colleague assured her, "we cry all the time around here ... come on over!"

In fact, what we had, and what every organization needs, are structures that recognize the human need for empathy (much as every office has bathrooms and a kitchen for other human needs). In our offices, we created a "gold room" that had soothing gold walls, very comfortable seating and a couch, music with high quality speakers, lots of plants, and adjustable warm lighting. It was a place people could go when they just needed a little time for themselves, or needed empathy from another person. Our Gold Room became a symbol to everyone of how much we valued the human experience in our workplace. And it was the place that my colleague and her business acquaintance went when she arrived.

We also need structures and skills in our meetings so that when a person becomes emotional or tearful, we can hold the space with care and empathy, and invite them, if needed, to seek the space or the care that they need. It takes self awareness, emotional intelligence and skills of empathy for a leader to show up with such a quality.

The acceptance of crying in the workplace is a direct measure of where the organization is on the spectrum of leading through trust vs. leading through fear. 

(Above thoughts sparked by this article: hbr.org/2018/06/why-is-crying-at-work-such-a-big-deal)

In a September 18, 2017 article in Fast Company (Satya Nadella Rewrites Microsoft’s Code, by Harry McCracken), McCracken states that “One of Nadella’s first acts after becoming CEO, in February 2014, was to ask the company’s top executives to read Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication, a treatise on empathic collaboration … The reading assignment ‘was the first clear indication that Satya was going to focus on transforming not just the business strategy but the culture as well,’ says Microsoft president and chief legal officer Brad Smith, a 24-year company veteran.”
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Nadella also includes Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication among the short list of books upon which he’s drawn inspiration (The 7 Books Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Says You Need to Lead Smarter, by Harry McCracken, Fast Company, September 18, 2017).

As a resource to those training in or learning Nonviolent Communication™​, we have been providing a no-cost limited license to use our introductory training materials for more than eight years. We have just added an updated version of these materials to the Resources page of our website which can be downloaded as a PDF.

This 22-page workbook includes the core pages from Basileia's training materials for the "Introduction to Needs-Based Communication (NVC)" workshop. We typically teach this workshop in a 1- to 2-day format for people who are new to NVC.

Hope that these materials will be useful for your personal learning or in group training sessions or practice groups!