Exponents of a more strategic approach to workplace authenticity think it could help bridge geographic and generational gaps.
When the Bay Area consultant Mike Robbins implored workers to “bring your whole self to work” in a 2015 TEDx Talk, he introduced a paradigm that would come to dominate corporate culture for a decade.
Robbins defined his credo as an invitation to “show up fully, vulnerably, and authentically” to colleagues instead of “trying to hide who we are” on the job. Much like the rise of open-concept offices and the decline of corporate dress codes, this notion of workplace authenticity spread widely – another hallmark of the Silicon Valley-led push toward less stuffy and more egalitarian workplace cultures across industries, which especially took root in tech.
