Are you 100% yourself at work? If you’re not sure, ask your partner or roommate what you’re like during Zoom meetings when working from home. There’s a high chance that you, like most people, have a work persona. We generally aren’t aware that we’re acting differently, likely because “we are so used to acting out of character for the sake of professionalism,” says Dr. Sanna Balsari-Palsule, a personality scientist at Cambridge University. And yet, to those who know us outside of work, the contrast can be significant.

In her doctoral research in 2015, Balsari-Palsule found that many workers think acting differently from their natural selves is an inherent part of their work role, and therefore, it feels “less burdensome.” Seven years (and one pandemic) later, I’d argue that “faking it” has become the greater burden, as we now not only have our work self but our digital self to contend with too—and, soon, probably our metaverse self as well!

So how can we free ourselves from this excess baggage, or at least reduce the need to have a work persona in the first place?

Persona vs Personality

I had a client in Melbourne who often told a story about landing a general manager role in one of Australia’s largest federal companies, despite refusing to do a personality assessment that was usually part of the interview process. His logic was that he embodies different personalities to get different jobs done, which made his actual personality redundant.

When I think of the validity of personality tests, American sociologist Charles Horton Cooley’s hypothesis at the start of the 20th century always comes to mind. He said: “I am not who you think I am; I am not who I think I am; I am who I think you think I am.” To contextualise this, if I’m interviewing for an executive leadership role and am required to complete a personality test, I’m more inclined to answer with what I think is expected of an executive leader rather than how I may naturally respond—or, in other words, create a persona.

So if personality tests aren’t the answer to getting beyond our work personas, what is?

The key is to gain a deeper understanding of why we work. This is what Attuned does. It doesn’t measure behavior, nor does it assess personality. It measures Intrinsic Motivation—the unique combination of values and preferences that make doing a certain task more (or less) meaningful for each individual.

Some people may not be ready to go that deep in terms of self-awareness, and that’s fine. I’ve had many successful colleagues in the past whose work self is Player 1 in a non-stop game of corporate chess.

Like most games though, there are easy levels and there are difficult levels, and at work the more challenging levels can come with unwanted side effects like burnout, work-family conflicts, continuance commitment, or turnover intention. If any of these sound familiar, then it might be time to park the persona and delve a little deeper.

Making Values & Blindspots Visible

Understanding your own Intrinsic Motivations gives you the data points to understand what you require to achieve true happiness in work, but it can also reveal what makes you unfulfilled. For example, if you’re driven by Social Relationships and enjoy teamwork but continue to be given duties that require you to work individually, chances are you’re going to feel dissatisfied.

Likewise, if Innovation is important to you, but you find yourself doing the same mundane tasks over and over again, it’s unlikely that you’ll be skipping into work each day with a spring in your step.

This is where I believe Attuned’s biggest value add comes in: it not only allows busy managers to understand their team members and their motivational needs better, but it also provides bespoke recommendations on how to take positive action when those needs are not being met.

The platform also allows managers to identify any motivational gaps and blindspots that exist between themselves and their team, both as individuals and collectively in terms of the team dynamic.

Let’s be honest: most of us have had a bad manager at some point in our careers. It’s likely they were promoted for being the best at their job rather than having characteristics associated with good leadership, like empathy and good listening.

These are characteristics that can be developed however, especially when supported by meaningful data about team members’ values and motivations.


More about ‘Management/Leadership‘

James Alexander
Founder, Trive Talent

Intrinsic Motivator Report