Embracing non-conformity

This week I have been inspired by reading about Rebel Talent by Francesca Gino, Professor at Harvard Business School. I was particularly excited by her suggestion of being more non-conformist at work, of challenging the status quo and knowing that this is often something we let go of as life goes by. She highlights the fact that we often wear a mask at work, unable to be our real selves. Which makes no sense when there is so much written now about how we need to be more authentic. How can we be authentic, if we can’t even be who we are? This could also be a direct quote from our recent research at The Conversation Space, with our millennial respondents saying that they did not want to have to wear this mask.

This has led us to do more work with businesses to help them to change the conversation, allowing people to be vulnerable and take more of themselves to work. Clearly there is much that organisations can do to make our workplaces more engaging and to enable us to rebel at work. But what can we do as individuals looking to make work more enjoyable and allowing us to take off the mask? I have a few non-conformist ideas to share:

Find a different kind of mentor – I have spent the past week hearing from mentors and mentees who are near the close of a programme. What stands out is how much mentoring encourages people to be bold and that many people will do something that they would never have considered otherwise. So, go out there and find a mentor who will encourage you to rebel.

Lower your expectations – I know, surely we’re always meant to be raising them?! The strain to be perfect, to get everything right and achieve so much can be overwhelming. Giving yourself permission to be good enough is pretty amazing. If you doubt that, listen to Jess Huddart talk about the impact of letting our expectations exceed reality.

Break some rules – a bit dangerous and of course all rules aren’t made to be broken. However, several years ago, Francesca Gino, the same Harvard Professor of the Rebel Talent research, and Dan Ariely, a behavioral economist at Duke and MIT, conducted some research and asked the question – “Are smart people more deceptive and more willing to cheat?” Interestingly, they discovered that being smart didn't correlate with dishonesty, however, dishonesty did with another trait - creativity. 

Embrace failure – quoting JK Rowling “I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realised”. It’s scary but as any entrepreneur will tell you, failure is the foundation of success. So, enjoy getting it wrong, learn from it. Then, most importantly of all, move on from it. Failure only really sets you free when you let it go.

What can you do today to break out of the mould and embrace the non-conformist in you? 

Jo Gray is an experienced consultant and as part of The Conversation Space works with organisations and individuals to help them enhance and benefit from mastering conversations at work.