WHY WE CRY
Crying Is Not Weakness, It Is Biology Doing Its Job
Entrepreneurs live in high-pressure environments, yet many of us still treat tears as something to apologize for. We grew up hearing that crying means sadness and sadness means weakness. So when emotions rise, we rush to say “I am sorry” without understanding what is actually happening.
Here is the truth. Crying is one of the only three ways the human body releases cortisol. Cortisol is the stress hormone that builds up during conflict, negotiation, decision making, and the daily strain of leadership. When cortisol has no exit, clarity drops and reactivity rises.
There are only three ways to remove cortisol from the body.
We sweat it out.
We use the restroom.
We cry.
That is the entire list.
So when someone cries at work, they are not falling apart. They are regulating. They are clearing stress so they can think clearly again. They are doing something biologically necessary.
How you respond in that moment defines your culture. If you treat crying as something to hide, you teach your team to mask their stress. When people mask stress, miscommunication grows. Conflict grows. Avoidance grows. And the crying does not go away. It simply goes underground.
If you respond with calm presence and simple acceptance, you create psychological safety. You signal that being human is allowed here. You help people return to clarity faster because you are not adding shame on top of stress.
Every leader says they want emotionally intelligent teams. Emotional intelligence begins with understanding how the body works and giving people permission to be real.
Start the shift, from judging emotional responses to supporting biological ones.