I recently sat through a lecture from a colleague of mine who is vegan. She doesn’t drink milkshakes, doesn’t eat omelets, and she won’t wear leather.
“Cows don’t drink the milk of other species. Why should I drink cow milk?”
And honestly, I don’t care what she drinks. You want to skip milk? My world doesn’t end. Do you.
Except I don’t believe in the concept of do you.
As a former human resources professional who has dealt with the stupidity and underbelly of the global workforce, I know that telling someone to be true to themselves is the worst advice ever.
- You pick your nose at your desk.
- You barely show up to work on time.
- You blamed a colleague for a mistake that you made.
- You drank too much on a company business trip and drove your rental car.
- You asked a coworker on a date, and when she said no, you asked six more times.
- You listened to some guy tell a racist story in the cafeteria and you didn’t tell him to shut up.
- You took a mental health day, then a few more, and then you caught the flu and other people had to step in and cover for you.
Your true self sucks.
For every global worker who is out there giving 100% and paying it forward, there are tons of employees who spend more time trying to avoid work than actually doing the work itself.
I’ve stopped telling people to do you. I’ve started saying, “Do your best.”
And if the best version of yourself doesn’t want to eat ice cream, I won’t judge it.
More for me!
Laurie Ruettimann is a writer, speaker, and entrepreneur based in Raleigh, NC. She’s working on her next book about fixing work due out in 2020.