When I was working as a manager in corporate America, I was discouraged from being too ‘touch-feely’ in my dealings with employees, customers, and management. I was instructed by my management to be ‘all business’ at work, stick to the facts, and use critical thinking skills to make decisions. I never felt quite right about closing off a big part of who I was, but I tried to comply in order to move up the corporate ladder. Now that I’ve escaped from that environment and I’ve had time to rethink some things, I say more ‘touchy-feely’ is exactly what we need in corporate America.

According to www.thefreedictionary.com, touchy-feely is an adjective and is defined as:

1. Marked by or emphasizing physical closeness and emotional openness
2. Based on sentiment or intuition, especially to the exclusion of critical judgment

What’s wrong with emotional openness and using your intuition? Granted, you could end up with a harassment charge if you did the physical closeness thing with everyone at work. But, among consenting co-workers, I don’t see a problem with giving and getting a hug now and then.  Business should be more personal, in my humble opinion.  Wouldn’t be nice if people brought their whole selves to work instead of having to check part of who they are at the door?