My creed is low, be sincere and don’t fuss.
– Jane Addams (1860 – 1935)
American Social Worker
I often talk about those who have a work face they show while they’re in their work environment. It’s who they want everyone to believe they are. Who knows where this notion originated from but the true challenge of being on “one’s best behavior and appearing different from one’s true self” is that no one get’s s to see or experience the real person.
Okay, so we don’t all want an Al Bundy personality hanging out at the office around us, but there are many personalities other than a “hands in the pants shoe store salesman” that represents the Al Bundys of the world.
The major challenge of having that work face is that people don’t connect with someone who isn’t vulnerable. We have to be real, warm and approachable as well as capable of making errors in judgment. It is those errors that allow people to grow to develop more confident and eventually to become a quality leader.
Someone has to lead the flock and the only way to lead is to be the first one to take that first step, sometimes those first steps are not the most prudent. But what we learn along the way leads us to many discoveries which otherwise might not have evolved.
Sincerity is a crucial trait of a leader, simplicity a trait of greatness.