Top Female Execs Tell Us Whether It's OK To Burst Into Tears At Work

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg gave a speech to Harvard Business School in which she said it was OK to cry at work.

Work can be stressful, and people do cry. That goes double in the advertising business, where clients can be capricious with deadlines and creative types often have huge, fragile egos (and the tempers that go with them).

Not everyone agrees with Sandberg that the occasional meltdown is OK. When someone starts sobbing at their desk it can bring the entire office to a halt. It's tough to ignore. People want to know: Has there been a death in the family? Is work too stressful? Is this person unable to handle the job?

Crying at work has, traditionally, been regarded as a weakness. It's especially something that men don't do. Forty-one percent of women have done it, but only 9 percent of men.

So we asked a handful of senior female ad execs in the agency biz what they thought of the issue.

Before we get to them, here's what Sandberg told Harvard:

I’ve cried at work. I’ve told people I’ve cried at work. And it’s been reported in the press that Sheryl Sandberg cried on Mark Zuckerberg’s shoulder, which is not exactly what happened. I talk about my hopes and fears and ask people about theirs. I try to be myself. Honest about my strengths and weaknesses and I encourage others to do the same. It is all professional and it is all personal, all at the very same time.