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Managers do not, absolutely, want you to “bring your whole self” to work
The basic issue of “be authentic at work” or “bring your whole self to work,” for me, is that most managers don’t want that. They want someone who’s basically an animal for hitting KPIs. Not all managers, no — but most. That’s how managers think of “being true to thy own self,” often: They believe deeply that they make the trains run, they like to virtue-signal about work and process, and they always think they’re just one great project away from really having authority. (They started thinking that 82 projects ago.)
One of my friends has this joke that I used at a trade show once. It goes something like this: “You know what a synonym for being authentic at work is? Being unemployed.” One time late in 2017, when I was still trying to figure out my life post-divorce (I’m still doing that, FYI, because I’m a human being), I got drunk day-side (healthy!) and came back and was lying on my bed with my dog (healthy!) looking at memes. Somehow I stumbled onto LinkedIn and the top article on mobile was called “Where did all the authentic leaders go?” I drunkenly responded, “They got fired.” If I remember, that comment got 14 likes. ** pats self on back **
