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Lately I’ve been thinking of using “authenticity” as a filter. If people are put off by me being me, then would I really have enjoyed working with them / for them in the first place? It’s easier to just find out in the first place, isn’t it?

Flip the script, ya’ll!

carey, of course, you are my inspiration and guide in all freak flag unfurling.

jill, i hear ya! i too have put a toe in, sensed the shock (if any), found it wasn’t too bad, and have continued wading in.
also, i draw upon a woman in my early career days who was the first to demonstrate the intelligence involved in saying, “i don’t understand that. can you explain it to me?”

autom and beth, my tutu has become my signature look. of course i’ll wear it to our philly tweetup! how else would you know me?!

beth, yes, yes, yes! there’s a clear link between the desire to be oneself and tear down these false barriers and the rise of the enterpreneur outside corporations and the free agent within.

lashawnda, sounds like we’re starting a movement.

thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts,
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@Fran, great points. I think as corporate citizens we've been “trained” to think we need to operate as blank, impersonal slates in the name of being “professional.” It's unfortunate because there are people we work with that are just truly fun, caring, maybe a bit crazy and who are still intelligent, ethical and professional. I truly we think we can have a balance of both.

This is the world I live in now and I am not going backwards. I can't imagine abandoning conversations and relationships with customers OR other marketers. Actually, that seems ludicrous now that I just “said it out loud.”

Have a great weekend!

Beth Harte
Community Manager, MarketingProfs
@bethharte

so the question is: WILL you wear a tutu when you next go to a philly tweet-up with beth?

It's not just about who I am in terms of having an outgoing personality, but being curious and questioning and slightly over-achieving. I want to know. I want to understand it all. I want to be expert. I want to apply well and excel. Badly.

And so, it's always a toss up — do I repeat the conversation in my head, tell that joke, end an email on a slightly perhaps too-familiar note? Do I ask a question even though I'm supposed to know the answer (and do), but seek validation and collaboration? Will these things reflect badly on me in terms of appearing technically incompetent or will they present me as confident and thoughtful?

It's because I lack hard answers to these questions that I usually unveil my authentic self to people gently, feeling out how much they want or can handle and letting out small doses of my “freak” accordingly (think IV drip). Seems wasteful, though, in terms of having the connection you talk about–and all the benefits. Hmmmm….