Be Yourself

How much of yourself do you bring to work each day?

This happened to be one of the questions I asked a client recently.  The answer wasn’t anywhere near 100% or all of me.  So we explored the bit that didn’t come to work and why.

Years ago a colleague I worked with handed in her notice.  The boss was surprised and really wanted her to stay “why are you going?” he asked “because I have a PhD, and every day I arrive at work and leave my brains in the car park.  I won’t do that to myself anymore.”  He wanted to know what changes they needed to make so she could use her brains.  She pointed out that leaving them in the car was a safety precaution so she could remain sane working for this particular organisation.

From a  different perspective many people put on their work clothes as if it were some kind of armour behind which certain traits can hide.  In some instances people pretend to be something they’re not.  Often the underlying fear is that if they showed their true self that people won’t like them.  Have the confidence to be yourself, knowing that then the people who do like you, like the real you ,and you’re not deceiving anyone anymore, least of all yourself.

I think this sums it up nicely.

“When you stand in that sliver of space that is completely and utterly YOU, then you will be truly magnificent, wonderful and abundant” Joseph Riggio

What do you make people feel?

I love the BMW Joy advert.  From a branding perspective they’ve summarised what they believe they’re about.

What I really like is the bit where they say… ‘we realised what you make people feel is as important as the thing you make’ or words to that effect. I even spoke back to the TV, saying how true that statement was – and it is rare I am moved to talk back to the tele.

Now of course comes the challenge of getting that feeling of Joy into their dealerships.   Yes the cars when you drive them bring a feeling of Joy (I’ve had one and did enjoy driving it).   The dealership staff though never left me even close to Joy; unless you count when they handed me my keys back and I found that this time they hadn’t damaged the car.  Fortunately the fourth dealership and a commute later and I found one that didn’t think damaging your car was a normal side effect of a car service.

Having been this clear about their corporate statement then it has to be felt at every touch point.  Let’s hope they’re working on this so that something this powerful doesn’t just become a gimmick.

As a leader can you articulate your brand ethos so succinctly, your purpose, do you know how people feel when they’re with you and when you’ve just walked out of the room?

In a nutshell…Who you are, what you stand for and how you make people feel, are as important as the ‘thing’ you sell.

The Effects of Politics on Job Satisfaction and Performance

Came across this great piece from Bret L Simmons blog .

Here it is……”A recent article in the Academy of Management Journal provides continued strong support for something I have said a lot here about the relationship between job satisfaction, commitment and employee performance, and adds to that by showing how perceptions of organizational politics negatively affects the mix.  The article is a well designed research study that conducted a meta-analysis of 57 papers published in top peer-reviewed scientific journals.

We already knew the well defined, reliable, and valid concepts job satisfaction and organizational commitment are two of the best predictors of employee effectiveness. The meta-analysis in this study confirms that employee satisfaction and commitment (they call this morale) should enhance performance and reduce turnover.

This study also shows that when people perceive that illegitimate, self-serving political activities are present in the workplace, it affects their performance because it lowers their morale. Bad politics at work also stresses people out, and this study demonstrates that psychological strain resulting from a perception of organizational politics has an additional negative impact on employee effectiveness.

Leaders have to engage in politics to get things done. But the litmus test should be why they use politics.  If political tactics are used to advance causes in the organization that serve to benefit everyone equally, then they are more likely to be seen as purposeful and legitimate.

But if the perception is that leaders are using politics for their own self-interest or showing favoritism that will benefit those in their inner circle, people are not going to respond well.  Politics at work is a top and bottom line issue.

I consider this straight forward and very significant evidence-based advice.”

Self Image = Results

Your self image is determining your results.  Now maybe you’ve never seen your identity as directly linked to the results you’ve achieved or will go on to achieve.  In essence we can’t outperform our sense of self.  Well you can but only for a short while and then, like an elastic band, it snaps back to where it knows.

You’ve no doubt heard people say “act as if”, or ” you have to be it before you can receive it”.  We see this commonly in the workplace when people are doing a role before they get the promotion.

Self esteem, self confidence, results, success, resilience, adaptability are all tied up to self image / identity.

Any time you say “i am…” you’re making a statement about your identity.

Now most of us talk a lot but don’t really pay 100% attention to what we’re saying.   Your identity is unconsciously running you.

This autumn you can change all that.  You could decide you’re going to understand the power of self image and identity, and work on making sure yours is working for you, not against you.  Join me on my 8 week study group, we’re doing this by phone so it’s really easy to join in.  You can get the full details here.