Being human and authentic in the workplace

 

Being human and authentic in the workplace

Fundamentally, authenticity at work means feeling able to express or operate in accordance with one’s genuine values, beliefs, motivations, culture and personality, among colleagues, managers, clients and other stakeholders equally (Hewlin et al., 2020).

Taking a genuine interest in people, investing time and energy to build relationships and making personal connections is the path to engender trust, respect, acceptance and cooperation, all attributes of high performing teams. Authenticity at work and healthy psychological functioning are known to be mutually reinforcing; synergistically leading to more favorable performance-related indicators (Emmerich & Rigotti, 2017). That’s why being human and authentic is important not only in an organization but also in the society.

It's not simply good to have; creating wonderful workplaces is necessary. To meet and survive the complexity of our time, we must figure out how to collaborate with greater understanding and do genuinely incredible things.

Tips to put humanity and authenticity in to action

• Making eye contact generally shows the other person that you are interested in what they have to say and that you are giving them your attention. Be careful not to stare enough.

• Isn’t it all about the words we use? Body language plays a large part in how we communicate, and therefore building relationships with others is plays a huge role in life.

• Facial expression is your face saying the same thing as your words? Your smile, frowns, eyebrows, lips and head movements all send a message.

• Body position your body position relative to the other person will influence their respond to you. Are you standing over them or at the same level are you leaning towards them or turning away.

• Hand gestures some hand gestures reinforce what we are trying to say but others give away our nerves or frustrations.

• Questioning - Asking the right kind of question can make a big difference to the way a conversation goes.

Closed questions give you facts. They can be answered with single word or a short phrase. These can be useful at the beginning of a conversation as they provide information and do not require too much of the other person.

Open question invites longer answers which encourage answers answers containing opinions and feelings. These help people to open up and share more information about them.

Powerful questions asked at the right time, can take conversation to a deeper level they encourage the other person to explore a topic in more detail and perhaps even discover something that they hadn’t thought of before.

Coffee breaks are a good way to connect with one another and learn more about each other as full human beings. Coffee breaks with a theme and invite people to dress up or bring something to share will give a fun method to express certain aspects of who we are. These unexpected chats will teach so much about one another.

 Be a great listener.

In a conversation with someone new, how much time do we spend listening and how much time do we spend talking matters. We should focus entirely on what the other person is saying, rather than thinking about what you will say next. If someone’s point of view isn’t shared, take time and try to understand what are they saying and why. And also empathy plays an important role in building personal relationships. Empathy all about really understands how other person feels.


Conclusion

In my opinion, leaders cannot be held exclusively responsible for employees' ability to be authentic at work. The workforce as a whole must work together. In the end, the fear of being rejected prevents genuine expression, thus any distinctions that are seen by coworkers should be welcomed and appreciated. Genuine expression among all groups is made possible by being receptive to opposing viewpoints. This approach can enable a secure place for organizations with different viewpoints to be independently authentic, without anxiety of criticism or judgment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3FO-SHNnOw 

References

Kraus, M. W., Chen, S. & Keltner, D. (2011). The power to be me: Power elevates self-concept consistency and authenticity. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

Sheldon, K. M., & Elliot, A. J. (1999). Goal striving, need-satisfaction, and longitudinal wellbeing: The Self-Concordance Model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,