Are You The Real Thing?

This article is not an advertisement for Coca-Cola…

I have written in a previous blog about How to Make an Emotional Connection in Communication. At a recent event, I was speaking to a large audience about this very subject. I was asked, indeed quizzed, to explain what I mean when I talk about trying to be the same person we are at work and home. Why do I believe that it is important to do this?

For me, it comes down to authenticity. There has been much written about this area recently, particularly in relation to leaders(hip). There has also been a lot of talk over the years about work-life separation or balance. I prefer to see this as work-life integration. After all, it’s just life! The ideal would be if you could be the same person at work and home and vice-versa.

Authenticity is the recipe for this. This requires an equal measure of three vital ingredients: vulnerability, transparency and integrity. The former is most definitely a strength not a weakness; transparency is about being clear and unambiguous in your intentions and integrity is about sincerity and truthfulness. All laudable attributes that we admire in others and would expect to display to our nearest and dearest. We all possess these qualities, so why do we often choose not to show these at work?

I encourage you to have the confidence to display all of you. Try and make a conscious decision to adopt this mindset every day. See how this makes you feel and notice if others react differently towards you. Most importantly, enjoy the new-found freedom to be gained in just being you.

Have a wonderful Christmas and a healthy, successful and authentic 2016!