Has anyone ever cried in front of their boss?

Not my boss, but definitely a coworker. My boss was being super vague and giving mean spirited feedback for me to pass back to my reports and it was frustrating me so much that she couldn’t be satisfied but also couldn’t articulate exactly what she wanted. I set up a meeting with someone who worked closely with her for much longer and ended up crying out of frustration/exhaustion/defeat.

Oh, yeah! Also had sentimental tears with one of my supervisors before. We had a moment where we really connected over the BLM issues and me voicing how I felt being the only black person on our team… when he rolled off I made sure to thank him for his listening ear and we cried together. It was cute. lol

Yup. I had spent a week with my son in the hospital. He had been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and was almost DKA. After he was discharged I spent a few days with him before going back to work... My client (knowing I had been with my son in the hospital but not the full diagnosis) told me that I was not treating her as my number 1 priority and that she had felt that way for a few weeks. I agreed with her and told her she wasn't... My family was. We knew something was wrong with it son before he was hospitalized... We just didn't know what it was.

I held it together as I told off my client. I then ran into my engagement partner, told him he was about to get a very angry phone call from a client and burst into tears.

He sent me home and told me to take time. When I can't back she was no longer a client. My boss showed a lot of compassion.... No one treats his team like that and still gets to be a client.

Yes multiple times, and after the last time I realized it was because I was in an abusive work situation and promptly started job searching. Have been much happier since leaving.

Yes, totally. And it was unexpected. He asked how I was doing (in general) and I just started crying. It was total burnout and exhaustion. He stopped the conversation and said “when is your vacation?” I said “I don’t have one planned.” His reply “take the remainder of this meeting time, go think about where you want to go, and when we connect in the next 36 hrs I expect you to tell me what your vacation plan is, and it better be 2 weeks long. It also needs to happen before thanksgiving.” (It was late sept ). Oh, and I should mention this was within the first 5 months of knowing him!

Yeah. But we are cool. Both passionate about the work. Been kicking ass together for a long time. Sometimes we need to let a few tears fall, but we pick each other up and get back at it.

Nothing wrong with crying. But the key is to not lose sight of your duty and responsibilities.

I’ve had multiple clients cry in meetings with me, senior ones too! On one project I was literally doing therapy for the entire c-suite because the CEO was way too intense for them. I’d go from corner office to corner office with boxes of tissues

A few times. For me it is a result of not being able to say all of what I’m actually thinking. Holding stuff back is what does it for me.
“I’m having difficulty with the team” is just not as satisfying as “Jimmy is being a passive aggressive prick every single day and I can’t take it anymore.” And I agree with BCG— it’s usually some form of abusive work situation.

10 years ago, I did. Now, looking back, it was silly on my end. She had zero empathy. Some people lack these emotional skills.

I’ve done this before. My mom was diagnosed with cancer and I wasn’t really doing my job because I was so mentally preoccupied. My boss called me in to write me up and I just burst into tears. They sent me home early.

That is not uncommon, and not knowing the context, I would advise you to watch for signs of:

* An abusive relationship: in this case seek help in your organization or simply go find another job (or both)

* Burn out: if you're under a lot of stress, overloaded, having problems sleeping and not doing your job well, take some time to step back. Talk to your boss, doctor, counselor, spouse, coach. Don't let this grow, it only gets worse. Handle it as a health issue.

* Or maybe you're just an emotional person (or were feeling emotional at the time) and that's ok. You may want to control it, or just accept that it will happen again and deal with it your own way.

Yes. In the Army. He was crying too.

I’d have to quit from embarrassment if I did that

Yep I cried in front of the partner I work for. I’ve also had consultants cry in my presence. Generally it has nothing to do with work but rather other factors in their life.

Yes. Turns out that I cry when I’m furious. Total shocker.

Yep, but it was my boss’s boss. Brutal project, I was managing a very large team (within an even larger team), burnt out from the work, and during covid. Nasty combo led to about a 90 minute heart to heart on Friday evening. I learned a good amount from it, and have grown a lot because of it. 8/10 would do again in that situation.

I did with my most recent manager, not sure if they could tell or not since it was over zoom without video. Since realized it isn’t worth it because the situation is toxic af.

If it was your report just give them a pink slip, they can’t hang

No but one time I threw up in front of him when he took me out for drinks #ralliedtho

Yes, but no reason to do it over work stuff.