Why you should bring your whole self to work | The Way We Work, a TED series

A leader is steady, firm, decisive, unwavering.

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Bruce Sung

Never let 'em see you sweat, always have an answer.

[The Way We Work]

My name is Dan, I'm a partner at a global creative consultancy.

領導人要沉著、 堅定、果決、不動搖。

But there's another side to me:

千萬不能讓別人看見你冒冷汗， 永遠都要有答案。

Carrie Dragshaw,

the character I created on Instagram.

〔我們工作的方式〕

As I thought about my double life, I couldn't help but wonder ...

我叫做丹，我是一間全球創意 顧問諮詢公司的合夥人。

When your true self is a little nontraditional,

但我還有另一面：

how much of it can you really bring to the office?

凱莉變裝蕭，

我在 Instagram 上 創造出來的角色。

For some of us is authenticity off-limits?

想到我的雙重身分時， 我就無法不納悶……

For the first 10 years of my career,

如果你的真實自我 和傳統有一點點不同，

I thought there was one way to be a leader:

你能把多少的真實自我 帶到辦公室中？

decisive and serious.

But that's not me.

對某些人來說，真實性是禁區？

So I'd put on basically office drag to fit the role:

在我職涯的前十年，

I'd talk in a deeper voice, try to hold in my hand motions.

我以為要成為領導人 只有一種方式：

I'm someone who gets really excited about things,

要果決且嚴肅。

so I'd temper that.

但我不是這樣的人。

I had this little voice in my head, telling me,

所以，我穿上了辦公室變裝， 來配合這個角色：

"You're too gay, too feminine, too flamboyant."

我會用比較低沉的聲音說話， 試著控制我的手部動作。

I had one well-intentioned adviser who said,

我是那種會對事物很興奮的人，

"Everyone knows you're gay. And that's great.

我得要在這方面多克制。

But you don't need to beat them over the head with it."

我腦中有個小聲音在跟我說：

Cut to: me in a tutu, for Halloween 2016.

「你太同性戀了， 太娘了，太浮誇了。」

我有一位顧問，出自善意這麼說：

I dressed up as my favorite TV show character, Carrie Bradshaw,

「大家都知道你是同性戀。那很好。

thinking my friends would get a kick out of it.

但你不需要一直 向他們強調這一點。」

And then, things got crazy.

切換到：2016 年萬聖節， 這是我穿著短裙。

The post went viral, and at first it was pure fun.

I started getting these incredible messages from people

我打扮成我最喜歡的 電視節目角色凱莉布雷蕭，

about how happy it made them,

how it encouraged them to be their authentic selves.

心想我的朋友會很喜歡。

接著，一切失控了。

And I started to think,

maybe this is the time to tell that little voice in my head to just shut up

這篇貼文被瘋傳， 一開始只是單純好玩。

我開始收到大家 傳來的訊息，棒極了，

and let myself be me.

我讓他們很高興，

But then things got a little too big.

鼓舞了他們，去做真實的自己。

Carrie Dragshaw was everywhere -- In the "New York Post", "US Weekly" --

我開始想，

也許該是叫我腦中的 小聲音閉嘴的時候了，

and I got terrified:

"What would my bosses think?

Would my coworkers still respect me as a leader?

讓我做自己吧。

What would my clients think?"

但，接著，事情鬧得有點大。

I thought I was going to have to get a different job.

到處都是凱莉變裝蕭—— 《紐約郵報》、《US 週刊》——

But then, something happened, something small.

I got a text from my boss, it wasn't long, it just said,

我嚇壞了：

「我的老闆們會怎麼想？

"Wow, Cosmo!"

我的同事還會把我 當領導人來尊重嗎？

With a link to an article that had just gone up about me.

我的客戶會怎麼想？」

我以為我得要開始找新工作了。

And it let me put that little, scared voice away

但，接著，發生了 一件事，一件小事。

and just be excited about this whole new world,

我老闆傳了一則訊息給我， 訊息不長，寫著：

rather than freaked out.

「哇，上柯夢波丹了！」

That's the power of one person,

sometimes all it takes is one ally to make you feel comfortable.

並附上一個連結， 連到一篇關於我的新文章。

這讓我把那害怕的小聲音收了起來，

And my coworkers started acting differently.

單純地對這個全新的 世界感到興奮，

They became more open, more playful with me,

it was as if knowing this other side of me

而不是被嚇壞。

那就是一個人的力量，

gave them permission to be more of themselves as well.

有時候，只要有一個盟友， 就能讓你感到舒服。

I thought that openness and vulnerability

would actually decrease my standing with my team.

我同事的行為開始改變。

他們對我的方式變得 比較開放，比較會開玩笑，

But it's done the opposite.

好像知道了我的另一面之後，

Two years in,

I never could have imagined that this part of me would not just be embraced,

讓他們也可以更去做自己。

我以為開放和脆弱

but could actually help my career.

會降低我在我的團隊中的地位。

Now, I'm lucky.

I work in New York City,

但結果卻相反。

in an office where creativity is valued

兩年過去了，

and I was already pretty established in my career when all of this started.

我當初怎麼也料想不到， 我的這個部分不僅會被擁抱，

Maybe that's you, maybe it isn't.

還對我的職涯有益。

But all of this has taught me so much

我很幸運。

about just the importance of bringing your whole self to work.

我在紐約市工作，

在我們的辦公室裡， 大家很重視創意，

在這一切開始之前，我的職涯 其實就已經有不錯的基礎。

And it's really challenged my own misperceptions

about what it takes to be successful.

也許你也是這樣，也許不是。

There's no one kind of way to be a leader.

但我從這一切學了好多，

It's about finding your strengths and finding ways to amplify them.

學到要把完整的自己帶到工作上。

Before, if a meeting was hard, I'd put on my perfect leader mask.

這件事真的挑戰了我的誤解，

我誤解了成功需要的要件。

Now, I can say, "Gosh, that was frustrating."

並不是一定要用 某種方式才能當領導人。

We can talk about challenges and struggles in an open way,

重點是找到你的長處， 想辦法放大這些長處。

rather than everybody pretending that they're fine until it's too late.

以前，遇到難搞的會議時， 我會戴上我的完美領導人面具。

Concealing an identity takes work.

現在，我能說：「老天， 那真讓人洩氣。」

Think of all the wasted energy spent pretending,

我們可以用開放的方式 來討論挑戰與困難，

wishing you were someone different.

What's most interesting to me, though, is that in this big study of covering,

不用每個人都假裝自己 沒事，直到為時已晚。

隱藏身分需要下功夫。

93 percent of those who say they're doing it

also believe their organization values inclusion.

想想我們浪費了多少精力在假裝，

在希望成為另一個人。

So clearly, our workplaces and all of our strange inner voices

不過，對我來說，最有趣的是， 在這項關於掩飾的研究中，

have a long way to go on acceptance.

說自己有在掩飾的人當中，有93%

There's a big difference between adapting and disguising.

同時也相信他們的組織 很重視包容。

And I think I learned that a little late.

所以，很顯然，我們的工作場所 和我們奇怪的內在聲音

Personally, I'm taking all of this as a call to be the ally

還要走很長的路才能有所共識。

who, like my boss did for me,

lets people know that it's OK to open up.

適應和偽裝有很大的不同。

If you're gay, or proud of your ethnic background,

我想我太晚才學到這一課了。

or have a disability or are deeply religious,

我個人會把這一切當作是使命， 教我也要扮演別人的盟友，

see what it's like being your full self at work.

就像我老闆為我做的，

You might be pleasantly surprised.

讓大家知道，我們可以開放做自己。

如果你是同性戀， 或為你的人種背景感到驕傲，

或有身心障礙、有很深的宗教信仰，

試試看把完整的自己 帶去工作會是怎樣的狀況。

你可能會得到很棒的驚喜。