We tend to picture workplace wellness as step counts, fruit bowls and the odd mindfulness app. But there’s a quieter cost that rarely makes the list: the energy it takes to be someone you’re not, all day, every day.
Professional Wellness Month and the idea of showing up as you aren’t two separate things. Think about how much effort goes into managing the version of you that turns up to work. Saying yes when you mean no. Laughing along. Hiding a bad mood. Smoothing the rough edges so you fit in. It’s tiring – and most people don’t even notice they’re doing it or how wound up they’re getting until they get to let go at home after a long day.
There’s a difference between being professional and erasing yourself. Professional is showing up prepared, treating people well, and doing good work. People-pleasing and self-erasure is something else entirely. It’s essentially deciding that the real you isn’t welcome here.
When people feel safe enough to be themselves: individuals are more focussed, teams trust each other, the work gets better, problems get aired earlier, and genuine ideas are put forward.
This is where leaders matter, because, let’s face it, nobody drops the act because a poster tells them to. People take their cue from others behaviour, the environment, and what’s rewarded. When a manager admits they got something wrong, asks for help, or says “I don’t know,” it signals to everyone else that they can stop performing too.
Wellness isn’t a finish line you cross once. It’s a daily choice to show up as you actually are, and to let the people around you do the same.
Sometimes that’s easier with someone in your corner. Whether it’s personal life coaching to work out what’s really yours to carry, or employee support coaching that gives a whole team room to breathe, the aim is the same: less performing, more being.
So here’s the one to sit with this week. How much of your energy goes into being yourself at work and how much goes into being who you think you’re supposed to be?
