With society's high pressures to achieve, it's understandable that individuals prefer to hide their weak points-but doing so comes at a cost.
I learned that lesson when I participated in a hiking expedition. As a new hiker, I struggled. The trip was difficult to me even without needing to carry my heavy camping packs. I was slowed down, yet I refused to tell my teammates in hopes that I would seem perseverant. To my delight and surprise, one of the more active members requested that we stop for a break. I quickly realized I wasn't the only one hiding my weaknesses after noticing the rest of the team's apparent relief.
For many of us, authenticity, or behaving as one's true self in daily life, is quite challenging. As social beings, we've learned to adapt and fit into our environment, making it challenging to display who we are at times. Yet, the advantage of authenticity is evident, driving its recent popularity among thought leaders. Authenticity even improved my hiking experience-the moment my group admitted to our shortcomings was when we started working better as a team. So, can being ourselves not only help us work better, but help those who workaround us?
The truth is, it can.
Researchers have found that not only did authentic workers have higher work engagement and lower work tiredness, but their teammates had the same results, regardless of whether they were genuine themselves. The results suggest that the benefits of authenticity go beyond the individual, and spread to teammates as well. So, we can improve our teammates' work behavior by merely being ourselves.
Why does authenticity boost our teammates? This is because authentic teammates do not prioritize protecting themselves at the cost of their work or relationships. Instead, they recognize the interests of both themselves and others when making decisions. This allows those they work with to feel safe while being themselves at work. By focusing lesson appearing hard-working in hopes to get ahead-and more on trying to be better all-around individuals-authentic teammates can make a great impact on their work environment.