Who are you?

What causes the stress at a job? Requiring a person to be someone they are not.

Understanding that doing work does not have to take everything you are as a person out of you, it doesn’t have to be you.. but it can be.

I am someone who has spent the last 25 years working in the same field, learning more and more and pushing myself to the next level. My job is not easy, I don’t believe any job is easy. People just have very different talents and interests. For example, customer service people ... that is a job I simply would not be good at.

I am my job but only because I choose to be, no one has ever ‘made’ me put my job at this level but I bring myself too my job, that means the good and the bad.

Many people seem to think that I should leave my passion and personality at the door before entering a job , I simply do not agree. Don’t get me wrong I am not for everyone .. I know that.. I am a bit bold for some, bull in a china shop... But part of what makes me good at my job is my passionate and constant want to learn and understand. I am not always the best at communicating things but that is my next goal, my next level of learning but I have to find a way to do that without losing myself.

I have struggled with these soft skills for years, most likely because I feel like I have to put ME in pocket because of my passion and emotion seem to be too hard for many people to handle. 

So Here I am looking for ways to be able to be me and yet learn how to read and manage others emotions a without losing myself in the process.

Most leaders I have worked for have coached me to put a top on my passion and need for no none sense straight talk aside, to be more soft and understanding and although I understand that approach I do not feel that is the approach for me. I am very passionate and I move at a very high rate of speed, I read a lot, I invest in my future by doing training courses and continue to grow with technology, I am rough around the edges but never have I heard that I am unable to do a job.

I am intimidating, not intentionally, I just know my field very well, I question status quo, I make suggestions and think outside the box but I do not like chaos. I like a controlled environment where you are rewarded for those outside thoughts , where you can color outside the lines do things quickly and if you are going to fail, fail fast!

Is there a leadership course or mentor or something that I could find my way to the next level of my career, thoughts ?