You and Your Workplace Can be the GOAT (Greatest of all time!)

I have noticed it can be common to keep your personal life personal and your work life at work.

That isn't very practical all the time. The lines blur because the single, common denominator is you and you bring your self wherever you go.

It makes sense to make choices about how and why you share your life but it also makes sense to feel psychologically safe at work to share what is agitating your life if it will benefit how you manage and prioritize your workload.

Many factors can contribute or detract from a work environment that allows human interactions. It is known that there is even a business case for it. When employees can bring their whole selves to work the company benefits financially because the spectacular, extraordinary employee bring unique and creative innovative aspects to their job that is not "textbook" job description. They bring more than they were expected to when an employee feels supported. And the work feels the positive affects.

Not too long ago a situation in my family was causing me anguish. I intended to come to work and put on the ole brave face but it impacted my work pace. I felt overwhelmed and hyper focused on the situation that I could not resolve.

On what felt like a whim, I shared a part of what was going on with my manager. My instant reaction was fear. "What had I done?!" Now, they would know and see any slip-ups I had and would judge me harshly. My cards were shown! Alack and alas, I must now pay the business piper of shame, gloom, and doom.

It was not actually a whim, though. It was my mind experiencing cognitive dissonance and taking a risk because evidence suggested the environment was supportive enough to give margin. Past work experiences had reinforced to me and my brain was trying to help me and trying to desperately remind me that when I have shown vulnerability in different work environments the worst was an outcome. In an insecure work environment the management did not have the complexity to recall humans are humans and experience the wide gamut of human experiences and if a personal situation is deflecting focus. The other side of my brain was insisting the situation and leadership in this new work environment was positive, was compassionate, was human-centric. And they were my work family to reinforce my value, my efforts and my possibility. They realized when one feels weak, we all feel weak and we can make weak feelings strong with listening, a breathe, care and time. And maybe even a reminder that EAP is a resource for everyone.

I was impressed that this reveal was not my downfall. It was the opposite. I was a goat on a mountain side and the incline was steep was goats are resilient and made it up the mountain soon enough and even got to see a sunrise and vista ever so beautiful. Things improved at work because I was seen for who I am fully. These reminders may seem small but when they happen regularly it can remind us of the health or opportunity of our workplace.

I feel gratitude and want to give greater discretionary effort in an environment that understands the complexities of being human. I also know that now every manager, leader, employee knows how to improve this sort of culture even when you know you have room for improvement.

Remembrara has one special offering that can help your workplace: Wisdom Workshop - Building Relationships through Storytelling: A Human-Centered Corporate Workshop

Objective: To facilitate team building, community building, and personal relationship building through asking open-ended questions and capturing personal stories from individual team members which will be gathered and shared back as a compilation to honor and appreciate the unique and diverse experiences that make up our company. This workshop emphasizes a human-centered work approach that prioritizes relationships and empathy.

If you are curious to learn more, I would love to connect.

Cheers to a new week and a new opportunity to show care, compassion and kindness in the daily stories we live.