Feeling Really Damn Good

I was struck this week by a strong reminder of something I've always believed to be true. If I'm honest with myself though, perhaps I haven't always lived by this belief as much as I could. It was a good reminder.

In a restaurant in Lisbon, I was with two colleagues after a long but good day at work. We were all from different countries but the conversation flowed, we laughed, we relaxed and we were having fun. It was midnight and the night was warm.

We shared stories, jokes and opinions. And in doing so we were revealing ourselves. There were no pretensions, no bragging and no taking the mickey. We were just being ourselves and our appreciation of each other deepened.

So what?

Most people, most of the time in my observation are not true to themselves. They follow other people's rules, wear clothes to fit in with what other people think, say things to create an image of themselves that they want to portray to others. It's pretty rare to just be yourself, especially at work.

That looks like fun

As soon as you be yourself, your real self, you have a feeling. I'm not sure I can describe it, but I know it when I feel it.

And when people in groups start being themselves, others do the same. It's contagious and in a good way. Sometimes it can create tension, but at least that tension is transparent, not hidden away. Issues and problems when out in the open are no longer problems, they are opportunities to do something right, to make something happen.

The best performing teams that I've led are the the teams where I've been myself. I'm generally a responsible person but I too have an anarchic side which comes out to play every now and again. In those teams, my maverick nature was not hidden. Equally, my frustration when I wasn't happy with the quality of work performed wasn't hidden either. We did good together, we rocked.

As Primal Scream once noted, "Together we got power, apart we got pow wow".

When each person can be free to be themselves and express themselves through their work they come home at the end of the day knowing they did something meaningful and look forward to waking up and doing more.

High performing teams are honest teams. The first step to an honest team is where people be themselves. Leaders can take the initiative and be themselves first. It takes courage but it feels good. And, paradoxically it's the path to success.

Listening to Eagles Of Death Metal high over the Bay of Biscay, writing down these thoughts I feel good. Really damn good.

Go live. Be yourself, feel good and enjoy the ride.