An icon of #diversity and #tolerance... that you have probably never heard of.

In 1906, Evelyn Beatrice Hall wrote a book called The Friends of Voltaire. In it she penned the famous line “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” These words, associated with Voltaire himself, were in fact never his words, albeit they were an accurate summary of his beliefs.

Evelyn, wrote under the male pseudonym of S. G. Tallentyre - back then it was the only way she would be published. Ironically"Voltaire" himself was merely the nom de plume of Fran?ois-Marie Arouet, a man whose real identity was lost in history.

Why the history lesson on LinkedIn? I was reminded again this past week, we can be so much more professionally when we simply present our authentic self. Evelyn Hall’s story should encourage each of us to do just that. It is her words, a century later, that are an anthem for freedom of speech, the importance of tolerance and diversity in the 21st century.

#charige