No one really knows who came up with ‘bring your whole self to work’, but it gained prominence around 2010. Fifteen years later, are we actually doing it?
Our experience across organisations with the Social Style & Versatility programme suggests a paradox.
People believe they have a ‘work self’ and a ‘home self’, but it is only the individual who believes this difference exists. When participants share their Style results with their partners, about 99% (of partners) agree with the Social Style profile and disagree that their partner has a different Style at home. You may need to read that sentence a couple of times, it is a little like 'who's on first'. 😀
So what does that suggest?
How we think we behave vs how others experience our behaviour are two very different things, and others’ assessment is often more accurate and useful.
For leadership teams, this is critical. If we misunderstand what we actually do as a leader vs what we think you do, we will limit our effectiveness.
However, the plot thickens....
Our Versatility, (how much support and respect we earn) is different at home vs work. Most of the time we are more Versatile at work and less Versatile at home. We think we have more Versatile at work, because at work we can get fired. But you can get ‘fired’ at home too - it is called divorce, and it is much more costly. 😶
The images below are the Dynamoney senior leadership and EXCO teams undertaking the TRACOM Group Social Style & Versatility programme. After-lunch slump? Nah - we set that one up with this great bunch of leaders!
This was step one in their leadership development, with Confident Leaders and group coaching next.
Thank you Brett Thomas and Tracy Ruff for the opportunity to partner with you.
