In becoming someone’s wife, I’ve realized that the best thing I can do for us, is to be aggressively real about my nature.

Personal Example 1:

My husband is extremely fiscally responsible. I… well, I get nervous just thinking about money. So one day I said to him, “If you want me to save money, you’re just going to have to hide it from me.” He could have convinced me that I should learn to have some self control in this area. Instead, I was adamant: “I should have more self control, but I don’t. So let’s operate under the assumption that I’m going to spend whatever I have.” And we do! And it’s worked beautifully for us!

Personal Example 2:

I also have no self control when it comes to food. However, I am extremely good at following directions. So, when I walked into my Jenny Craig 1-on-1, and my nutritionist was all “Oh! You have plenty of options! If you want to get a little creative we can…” I stopped her right there! “I will fail if you give me choices. My self control only extends so far as following directions.” And it totally worked!

In many other ways throughout my personal life, I’ve realized that it’s a benefit to admit the ways in which I am flawed, and I’m more likely to shoot myself in the foot if I’m lying to myself about who I am.

I’m starting to believe this concept could be a benefit to my professional life as well.

Business Example 1:

When I joined the company, my boss was all “We’re a SUPER flat organization!” Oh cool! So where do I sit? One of these offices? “No, you’re out there in the bullpen. Managers get the offices.” L.O.L. I enjoy a good company hierarchy as much as the next gal. I like knowing there’s “a guy” who’s responsible for deciding on a thing I need. In contrast, I also enjoy having a beer with my CEO, who flips me off for making fun of his eyebrows (true story - in my mind this is the moment you know you have a truly flat organization).

So we’re a hierarchical organization which should be flat. What are we missing out on by not admitting that about ourselves? What could it be costing us?

Business Example 2:

We have a dreary, daily meeting. I’ve spent the past 6 months convincing myself that I “just” need to be engaged because it’s my job, but I’m not intrinsically motivated to go to this meeting. So, I’ve bought myself some actual gold stars, and made myself a stupid star chart. #ImAnAdult Guess what? I’ve called into that meeting every day this week (and sometimes I was even paying attention!). #BabySteps

If I’m seeing so much benefit in my personal life, would it be crazy to expect the same benefits in a business?