Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy open by arguing that emotions genuinely belong in professional workplace contexts and require skillful management rather than the complete suppression conventional professional norms sometimes suggest.

Why this emotions-belong framing matters:

• Conventional professional norms sometimes suggest complete emotional suppression represents appropriate workplace behavior, while the authors argue genuine emotional skill, rather than suppression, provides more effective professional functioning
• This framing motivates the book's subsequent detailed guidance for skillfully managing rather than suppressing workplace emotional experience
• This opening establishes the book's foundational premise, distinguishing skillful emotional management from complete suppression

This opening establishes the book's foundational premise, arguing emotions genuinely belong in professional contexts requiring skillful management rather than complete conventional suppression.