Quiet Influence

Preface

“In every performance review, I’m told I need to speak up more. That I need to spend less time in my office with my door closed. My boss says I have to ‘sell’ my ideas with more enthusiasm. My co-workers say that I need to be more of a ‘team player’ and less of a ‘report generator.’ Believe me, I’ve tried. It seems that when I try to develop those skills, though, I’m just acting like someone else. I feel as if I have less of an impact rather than more. How can I be me and still make a difference?”

 

Sari sighed and shrugged her shoulders with more than a hint of frustration as she posed the question to me during a workshop I was leading at her company. I’ve been asked a similar question many times, and I always feel a sense of sorrow ...