You Should Not Be The 'True (Toxic) You' At Work -- Be The Better Cybersecurity Leader Instead

Most of us believe that we need to be 'true to ourselves,' that we need to bring 'our whole self to work,' and that 'putting on airs' is bad because it isn't 'how you really feel' and you like to 'keep it real.'

Scare quote marks aside, ask yourself this: how much do you like working with that one over there who is a gossiper, or the one over there who stabs you in the back whenever possible, or this one sitting next to you who complains all the time? Don't get me started about the ones -- probably half the employees in the company -- who don't actually work, they are suck-ups or always "sick" or have to leave early before a big deadline for vague reasons. And then there are the people whose carpool leaves at 3pm.

You know who I mean.

Spoiler alert, they're bringing their "true selves" to work.

As a cybersecurity leader, as do all leaders, you probably put up with a variety of "personalities" on your team because you need to get things done. And really, that's normal, maybe even good that we can all have quirks as long as we appreciate that you having quirks is balanced by me having quirks. Recall that as we say a lot here you get hired for your skills.

"True selves" and "quirks" as a leader are a different conversation. It might seem unfair but it's not: as someone who is in a position of responsibility in an organization, especially in a role where important assets may be compromised if your team messes up, you are expected to harness the quirks and talents of your team to accomplish important organizational goals. That's why you get paid the big bucks.

Recent work by our friend Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic (here and here) questions the value, or even the appropriateness or sanity, of bringing your "whole self" (quirks and all) to work especially as a leader. In brief, because of the relative position of leaders in a hierarchy, leaders with too much of their "true self" at work risk terrorizing their teams and engaging in disruptive behavior across multiple endeavors.

Suppose that your QA team needed to rely on the systems team but their supervisor believed in hoarding info. This holds up your function. It bothers your team. Nothing gets done.

Suppose that your supervisor takes forever to get things done (sound familiar?) because they need to "run it up the chain" repeatedly. That keeps them from "getting ahead of the boss" but really means they feel less anxious about doing anything.

But after all, they were just being their "true self." Their "true self" needed reassurance. They call it good leadership.

They will be fired for their personality.

Does that mean you need to be a corporate drone?

If you're anyone in the organization: Tomas (& his colleague, Professor Amy Edmondson) say this: "The healthiest teams encourage their employees to bring their best selves: the part that is curious, constructive, and committed to learning."

If you're a leader: be the amazing leader you could be. Learn what your team needs from you and what your boss needs from you, and then connect the dots. That's creating an effective leadership style. 

You can even say you did it my way.

Ask us how to develop your savvy and effective leadership style.