CHRISTINE LIU: Have you ever gotten the advice just
be yourself?
Don't try to be anything but yourself.
Just be yourself.
It's like, well, all right.
At the end of the day, what does this really
mean when it comes to your professional life
and going to work?
Outside of work, that is not a problem.
But being myself at work?
That's harder.
Research shows that it's overall beneficial for people
to be more authentic at work.
So when I hear be yourself or be authentic,
you're going to be honest.
Right?
And then if you're honest, you might be blunt.
And if you're blunt, I don't know.
Maybe you'll see be seen as abrasive.
And if you're seen as abrasive then, like,
you're going to be named.
Not professional.
Here's my question.
What does bringing my authentic self to work really look like?
And have expectations changed over time?
What about this past year?
MADISON BUTLER: The misconception
is that if you 100% bring yourself to work, that's it.
It's either zero or 100.
There's nothing in between.
When in actuality, it is 100% a personal choice.
It's not some all in or nothing.
CHRISTINE LIU: That's Madison Butler.
She's the vice president of people and culture
at a startup based in Austin, Texas.
She specializes in workplace culture
and in creating inclusive business environments.
Madison, when you bring your authentic self
to work, what does that really look like?
How do you bring that?
MADISON BUTLER: Obviously it's a little different now,
because we're not in the office.
But I actually think the authenticity part
is a lot deeper than about my blue hair or my tattoos.
It's about being really honest with ourselves
about everything else that's going on in our lives,
whether it be covid or George Floyd,
or you're going through a divorce.
There's all of this other stuff that happens every day.
And it doesn't pay for us to ignore those things.
I think there is this misconception
that we get to work, we check our human sweater at the door,
and we move on with life.
And that's just not reality.
CHRISTINE LIU: So, Madison, you feel
so comfortable being your authentic self
and sending that message to everyone.
Was there ever a time that this was hard for you
or this wasn't always the case?
MADISON BUTLER: Oh god.
Totally.
And I think that it starts much earlier than corporate America.
I think, even as we're growing up, we want to fit in.
We want to have friends.
I had this moment where--
I think we probably have all dated the wrong person
at some point in our lives.
And I was a very different person for that person.
And when I got out of that relationship,
it was kind of a promise that I made to myself that I
wasn't going to do this again.
But I hadn't made that commitment to myself at work
yet.
I remember the kind of turning point for me, though.
I had an interview here in Austin.
And they kind of ranted and raved about how much
they loved me and how great I was.
And they really wanted to bring me on.
And then, it was followed by like this big fat but.
It was like, we love you but we would
need you to change your hair, cover your tattoos,
wear dresses and heels.
And I was like, oh god, I wear Birkenstocks like every day.
And I think that was the first time that I really
realized how many people have I worked
for that didn't like me at all.
They liked the idea of who they could make me
into as long as I would make them money.
And I think that was the moment that I realized
if I'm going to work for someone else's dream,
then they really need to value me at 100%.
It's taken me a very long time to understand
that if I make someone uncomfortable
that is not my responsibility.
If you are uncomfortable with my Blackness,
my queerness, my blue hair, whatever it is.
It's not my responsibility to make you feel comfortable.
None of that has any impact on how I do my job,
except it makes me better at what I do.
Because I embrace all of those things about myself.
CHRISTINE LIU: I totally get where Madison is coming from.
And thinking on my own story, there was definitely a time
when I was like, yeah, I need to be myself here.
I can't fit this mold that doesn't fit me.
I was just about to graduate from college
and I was going on all these job interviews.
And I felt forced to buy a suit, have sensible pumps,
be very conservative.
Feel like I was in this sort of business mold.
And it made me realize that this wasn't for me.
This was not my chosen path.
And I needed to be in a place where I could be creative, wear
color, hang out with people that are
outside of the corporate norm.
What is the proper way to approach the idea bringing
your authentic self?
And what is a sort of misnomer or misconception about it?
MADISON BUTLER: When it comes to the things
that you disclose at work or the things that you bring to work,
that is 100% up to that person.
There will be tons of people who, regardless, never want
to talk about their family or their relationships at work.
And they don't have to.
And that's fine.
But then there are other people who
are completely fine talking about those things.
And I think that's fine, too.
I really hate the word professional
because again, just like corporate America,
the word professional was not intended
for people who look like me.
CHRISTINE LIU: So that's really interesting.
Essentially, it's about the employer giving people
the autonomy and choice to bring as much as they want to work.
So if I think about myself, I guess
I'd put myself around I bring maybe 50% of myself
freely to work.
But what if you're not as lucky and you find yourself
in a restrictive environment that doesn't really
allow you to make that choice of how much you
bring of yourself to work?
What is the real cost there?
MADISON BUTLER: It is so exhausting
to be two people during the day.
I worked with someone who--
I used to ask them why don't you ever come
to company-sponsored happy hours or events.
And her response to me was I go sit in my car everyday at lunch
just so I can breathe and put my guard down for an hour.
Because it is so exhausting to be someone else for eight
hours a day that I just can't even fathom doing it after 5:00
PM.
And so when you get people who are in situations like that,
you're spending so much of your energy
making sure that you fit in and that you didn't
come across a certain way that it's
impossible to be completely 100% great at what you're doing.
When you empower people to be exactly who they're intending
to be in the world, you get people
who are more focused on what they're doing every day.
If I'm not focused on the sound of my voice,
I can really focus on what I'm saying.
CHRISTINE LIU: So what if I'm an employer and, look,
this is going to be a cynical point of view.
But business is good, I don't want to rock the boat.
And any way, why should I let my employees
bring their outside lives into the workplace?
CHRISTINE LIU: Human capital is the most expensive capital
we all have.
So it pays for us to take care of our human capital.
Retention and it costs a lot of money.
It costs a lot of money to onboard people.
For example, there is a company who I won't name.
They're actually really big, but they're onboarding process cost
about $1 million per employee.
So if you have someone who lasts about 18 months,
have you actually gotten your return on investment?
Probably not.
So it actually pays to understand the humans
in your building, regardless of what industry we're in
or how many people we have.
At the end of the day, we have people.
And if you understand how they work and why they work,
and why things maybe aren't as streamlined as they were
last week, you have a better chance
of coaching them and leading them to be successful.
CHRISTINE LIU: So I learned a lot from Madison.
It was really great to hear her story and her insights
about bring your whole self to work.
And now I understand it.
It's really not just things you're wearing
or things you're showing, or the color your hair.
It's really about the ability to bring your whole complex self
to the office.
And for employers out there, retention saves money.
If you allow people to be themselves at work,
they'll probably stay.
MADISON BUTLER: So regardless of how
you feel, at the end of the day, you employ humans.
And if you don't value humans, then you
have no business employing them.
ANDY (OFF-SCREEN): How much of yourself are you being right
now?
CHRISTINE LIU: Right now, if I had to give a percentage,
I'm probably pretty healthy 85-90% right now.
I am in my house.
I'm with a friendly colleague Andy.
I feel like it can joke or just be honest.
Or if like I don't know anything,
I can just blurt it out.
And I'm learning, too.
And this is all a lot of new territory or things
I could definitely improve on.
So I'm pretty upfront about that.
Yeah, this is my life.
This is my house.
This is pretty much all me.
If you're still watching, one, thank you.
But two, I'm really curious.
What do you want me to explore?
What problems do you have at work?
I love to solve them.
Please leave a comment.
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
And if you have any other ideas, throw them my way.
All right.
Peace out.