When you don't express your emotions clearly, respectfully, and safely, and instead dump your emotions on others or suppress them hoping that they go away, many misunderstandings will arise causing a lot of problems:

• When you don't explain in a clear, respectful, and safe way to others how you feel, they will try to guess how you feel and get it wrong. Being silent about your feelings does not mean that people will ignore them--they will just try to work it out for themselves and they may get it wrong. And in the absence of any declaration from you to the contrary, they will presume that their guess is right, then they may tell others. All this can foster negative gossip, a lack of trust, and grave misunderstandings.
• When you don't express emotions clearly, they may fester and disturb your sleep and drain your energy. How often have you heard of someone being upset by a comment and then stewing on it, only to find themselves lying awake still thinking about it? This means the next day when you face the board you are going to find it harder to think clearly.
• Carrying unexpressed negative emotions for any length of time zaps your energy, leaving you feeling tired, drained, and fatigued, and making it harder for people to relate with you. Who wants that? You will be more stressed and will take it out on staff, partners, or customers.
• If you cannot express feelings of appreciation, pride, and other similar emotions, people may think you are unappreciative or take them for granted. As a consequence, employee engagement drops when employees do not feel valued, appreciated, or supported and turnover increases. For example, I was told recently by a manager that one of his key staff had left him because, she "felt unappreciated." He was so surprised when she told him--he had no idea. He had thought it was obvious that he appreciated her.