Bringing your full self to work
"Bring your full self to work!" Ever hear your manager say that?
For the record, it's a perfectly fine thing for a manager to say—it's better than most things that have come out of a boss's mouth. But I bring this up today because I think it has different interpretations.
What exactly is your "full self?"
My mom, for instance, believes that bringing your full self to work means bringing 100% effort and focus to work, leaving personal problems at home.
My own manager believes that you should be able to bring up personal concerns or challenges at work so that she can support you in whatever way she can.
Vastly different answers, right?
My mom is close to retirement, so the work culture when she was my age was very different than it is now. Back then, most companies believed that you should leave your personal life at home, because work isn't the place for it.
However, more and more companies and managers are understanding that you can't fully put aside your personal life at work. If we're dealing with a personal problem at home (like a divorce, a death in the family, etc.), it's impossible to not have that affect our work in some form.
In fact, when it comes down to it, you're at work because of personal problems. You need to put food on the table, and that's technically a personal problem. You're solving that problem by working. Funny how that works.
Thanks for reading! This was a quick one. And honestly, I need to write more of these "quick ones." I keep thinking that my newsletters need to be all long and full of substance, but there's nothing wrong with a quick thought. So you might see more of these. See you next time!