I believe perfectionism, incongruence and political manouevering of information is preventing organisations from reaching their true potential.

After many years of leading cultural transformations I can tell you this with a huge degree of confidence…the more we mandate or pressure an individual into being a certain way or prevent our organisations, leaders and teams from being real, authentic, honest, transparent and human the more likely it is that our transformations will not stick.

It isn’t because we aren’t pursuing the right goal or objective it is because we didn’t address the right challenges in reaching that goal. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, our fear of getting it wrong is preventing the styles and voice of our people from being expressed.

I loved Amy Cuddy’s recent LinkedIn post and her chat with Brené Brown on Brene’s Dare to Lead podcast. I especially loved how they shared their love for The Grateful Dead as ‘dead heads’. I can think of so many other examples of leaders who surprised me with their hobbies or interests that were not the norm or what I expected of our buttoned up corporate environment.

For example, I’ll never forget the day I watched Julian Dolby, a Deloitte Partner sing his lungs out when he joined forces with others who work in the Big 4 firms and Corporates to raise money for charity as part of Brisband. Speaking of the unexpected ‘Corporates rocking out for charity’ is their tagline. By showing up as their true selves they are achieving great things in the Brisbane community and business world.

Management consultants, lawyers, auditors, accountants, engineers have all generally been seen as being part of rather buttoned up, uptight or conservative professions. I suppose the buttoned up personna went with the guidance, reviews, audits and advisory work we were doing. We were expected to give the impression of perfection. I’m so pleased that things are changing and even in these traditionally conservative fields, individuals are more free to bring their true selves, minds and perspectives to work. This shift alone will have a profound impact on many organisations and industries.