Bring Your Authentic Self to Work Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Means

For some years now, there has been a trend towards “bring your authentic self to work!” And it’s meant with great positive intention! People are encouraged to “be yourself” at work. We are encouraged to “show up as your whole self.” And, with apologies to Brené Brown, “dare to be vulnerable.” <img alt="" src="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:700/1*7U2MenSaYVfTv8jdyCXwCQ.jpeg" style="height:903px; width:700px" /> Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@girl_behindthelens?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Amy Vann</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/authenticity?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Unsplash</a> Some of us may take these encouraging words quite literally. And that can be an unintended problem. If being yourself at work means letting your potty mouth run rampant when your office culture frowns on it, you might have a problem. I remember a male co-worker being counseled to apologize to me and the other female who had been in the room when he let loose with a couple of well-placed expletives. Now, there were two things about this that bothered me. First, I wasn’t offended. It wasn’t my first time hearing these words, and I thought they fit the circumstance. Second, he was told to apologize to the “ladies in the room” as if our ears were too delicate to hear such language and the men in the room could handle it. My co-worker was being his authentic self. And our manager found his authentic self inappropriate for the situation. So we all learned that we must NOT be our authentic self in the office if it meant offending our manager! <a href="https://medium.com/practice-in-public/bring-your-authentic-self-to-work-doesnt-mean-what-you-think-it-means-d2563e756e46">Learn More</a>