Have you ever heard of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s quote: “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”? It’s a great accomplishment yet it can be a challenging journey, especially in your career. With pressures of meeting manager, C-suite, and industry expectations, how can you possibly be yourself and stay true to your integrity? I can tell you this—it isn’t easy, but it’s worth it. Continue reading to learn how to be yourself at work and what I’ve found to be three valuable benefits.
What Does It Mean to ‘Be Yourself’ at Work?
Being yourself at work looks like a couple of things. One: it looks like bringing your whole self to the table, including your strengths and weaknesses. It looks like celebrating your successes while learning from mistakes. Two: it looks like approaching and executing situations with your Brilliant Difference™. Your Brilliant Difference™ is a performance growth beacon that helps you rise up to your best self at work, allowing you stay aligned to who you are and the impact you deliver. It’s a statement you can go back to ensure you’re excelling in your performance because of who you are (your talents and strengths), not who you think others want you to be and how you think they want you to produce results.
Why You Should Be Your Best Self at Work
1. Increased Performance
I once heard a story about an MLB player who had a ton of batting success, until suddenly, he just couldn’t hit the ball. Confused by the sudden change in the player’s performance, the coach was ready to pull the player, but first he asked: “What happened? What changed?” The player responded saying he was trying to bat like his idol. Trying to bat like his idol nearly cost the baseball player his career.
The point is, when you show up to work and execute tasks like someone else or to someone’s expectations of you, it can hinder your performance. When you show up as yourself at work, you can tackle any situation in ways that are unique to your strengths and integrity, not only injecting creativity into what you do, but helping you more easily reach success.
2. Higher Satisfaction
When you can be yourself at work, satisfaction goes two-fold: for your job and for your life.
According to Harvard Business Review “better life satisfaction” and “a healthier well-being” are two plentiful side effects of showing up to work authentically.
Showing up as yourself means you perform with your strengths and talents, helping you manage projects or teams with ease and joy. This leads to higher job satisfaction. And in turn, this then trickles into greater life satisfaction. After all, we spend roughly 70% of our lives at work, so the happier we are there, the happier we’ll be with life as a whole.
3. Career Clarity
When you work to the expectations of others and not the integrity of who you are, the way forward in your career can become muddled. Some people may tell you to go one way, while industry standards say to go another. But what do you truly want, who do you want to become, and how will you get there? You can answer these questions simply by being yourself at work. When you stick to your integrity and morals and show up authentically, you’ll naturally lean toward strengths, projects, and sectors that align with who you are and make you passionate about showing up to work every day. You’ll know exactly which title or responsibilities you’ll want to achieve next.
A Step in the Right Direction
While the benefits are plenty, being yourself at work may feel uncomfortable at first, and it’s something you’ll have to practice again and again—especially when you feel yourself straying from your integrity.
If you don’t know where to start to help you and your team feel energized and satisfied and perform without limits, I’ve created a signature program, Your Brilliant Difference™, that helps leaders and teams excel in their roles to reach long-term success.
Click the button below to fill out a quick form and choose learning options that will suit your development needs best. Finka Jerkovic will be in touch with a customized way forward.
