The Authentic Organization

4Pillar 1: Self

Pillar 1 is Self and focuses on empowering individuals to thrive in the workplace by cultivating intrapersonal awareness. This lays the groundwork for individuals to bring their Authentic Self to work. If you don't feel safe to be your Authentic Self at work, your workplace isn't psychologically safe. Unfortunately, the concept of bringing your Authentic Self to work and intrapersonal awareness is often overlooked by organizations in their efforts to create a psychologically safe environment. As discussed earlier, the focus tends to be on having conversations and taking actions that demonstrate the achievement of KPIs. Instead of prioritizing the Authentic Self, they direct their attention toward creating an environment where people can thrive, without laying the necessary groundwork. Pillar 1 is the foundational pillar. Without addressing the Pillar 1 Highlights, individuals won't feel safe to bring their Authentic Self to work (if they choose to do so) and as a result you will never create a truly safe workplace. You can't leave this Pillar out.

Recognizing when you are not being your Authentic Self at work involves being mindful of various red flags. These signs include feelings of low confidence, self-worth issues (extending to money and relationship issues), loneliness and isolation, as well as low self-esteem, a lack of creativity, mental health challenges and the ever-persistent impostor syndrome. Often these indicators manifest as an overarching sense ...