One of the things I talk about in the new podcast is the way folks have a work persona that’s different from their social persona. A client shared this with me today- an FT piece sadly lodged behind a paywall: Be yourself—but know who you are meant to be
Here’s a bit of it:
“…How should you present yourself to the world? What sort of leadership style does the situation demand? Or should you simply ignore such thoughts as you get on with the business of ‘being yourself’? A lot of people struggle with these questions. New research by the business psychology company OPP confirms the existence of so-called ‘workplace chameleons ’ those who feel the need to adopt a different persona as they arrive at work each day. Out of all the European workforces surveyed by OPP it was the Brits who came top of the chameleon league table: 64 per cent said they in effect became somebody else as they reached their desk. How unlike those straight-talking Dutch. Only 36 per cent of respondents in the Netherlands felt the need to compromise their identity in the workplace. You know where you are with the Dutch…”
I’m sure Dave Snowden would have a red alert about the robustness of those seductive statistics, and I’m dubious about the dubious nation-based mudslinging… but I’m fascinated by the pressures having a work persona can often create.
