When You Know (You) Better, You Do Better

Let's make "bring all of you" more than a confusing platitude.

We’re consulting with a company that encourages employees to “bring all of you” to work.

That’s a good thing. We want organizations to encourage exactly that. And we want to work with organizations that are wisely embracing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and implementing related initiatives.

A fundamental problem with “bring all of you”

In January, a friend confided that his boss had found him on Instagram. He jokingly talked about wanting to “light himself on fire” when his boss said “It looks like you have a lot of fun. Feel free to bring more of that Joel to the office.”

Similarly, a colleague of ours recounted a story about her boss letting her know that she “can be comfortable being her authentic self at work.” She appreciated the sentiment but was a bit confounded. What part of herself did people believe she wasn’t bringing to work? “Do they want me to be more female” at work? “Am I supposed to be performatively Latina?” “Does this mean I can do my punch needle art?” She ha…