Creating Space for Authentic Employees
Posted on January 31, 2025
Are your employees showing up as their authentic selves at work? Many people feel compelled to wear a “game face” in the office – essentially putting on a mask that hides their authentic personality. When employees feel they can’t bring their whole selves to work, they’re holding back valuable perspectives, creativity, and capabilities that could benefit your team.
Consider this real example: A naturally sensitive professional worked in an environment where showing sensitivity wasn’t the norm. She faced two significant challenges by suppressing this core aspect of her personality. First, the energy spent maintaining this façade reduced her productivity. Second, and perhaps more surprisingly, her team’s morale suffered because they caught glimpses of her authentic, sensitive nature but felt disconnected when she wouldn’t fully express it.
As a leader, you can take specific steps to create an environment where authenticity and psychological safety can co-exist:
- Practice Active Acceptance. Foster an environment where different perspectives and work styles are not just tolerated but valued. Actively demonstrate that you appreciate team members’ unique approaches and personalities. For example, you can ask specific people for input of a particular nature. For a very risk-focused person, ask them to talk about the pitfalls you may run into. Have the optimistic person talk about the unexpected benefits a project could deliver. Asking for specific input that aligns with individual personalities validates the person and the input they provide.
- Balance People and Purpose. Give equal importance to your people’s well-being and your business objectives. Show your team that authenticity doesn’t conflict with achieving business goals—in fact, it often enhances performance by freeing up energy previously spent on maintaining fake personalities.
- Encourage Collaborative Dialogue. Create regular opportunities for open discussion where team members can safely express their views and concerns. This might involve restructuring meetings to make space for different communication styles or establishing new channels for sharing ideas. To do this a colleague of mine used to run “Badge in the Box” meetings. When launching a brainstorming meeting, everyone in the session puts their company ID badge in a box, symbolizing that they aren’t people with a specific place in a hierarchy. They are just people with potentially good ideas. This allows team members to put their ideas on the table without fear of being judged by management.
- Model Authenticity. As a leader, demonstrate what it means to bring your whole self to work. Share your own challenges, show vulnerability when appropriate, and be transparent about your decision-making process.
The key to making this work is to treat your team members and your business goals with equal compassion and strength. By creating space for authenticity while maintaining clear objectives, you enable your team to contribute their full capabilities to your organization’s success.