Hassett ACE Hardware

I just had a wonderful meeting about culture with two young women (who work for another company) who are used to being in a typical hierarchical workplace where showing up to work with joy and excitement was quickly shut down by co-workers and leaders, and where they felt very much like they needed to show up with their game faces, keep emotion down and "get the job done".

They shared that now that they are in a work environment where they are asked and encouraged to share their thoughts, to disagree, to explore ideas, where they are allowed to feel safe, share personal experiences, feelings and emotions; they are needing to relearn how to feel and express that joy for work and how to feel safe sharing who they are in a work environment. They find that they are often second-guessing themselves as to whether they showed up "right" or said "too much". When they share with their friends what they talked about at work that day, their friends are incredulous that they shared something personal or vulnerable with co-workers: "You told them that?!" is often what they hear.

What came up for me while listening to them share, was a realization that we as culture creators, are, on a very basic and vital level, helping people reunite with their innate, childlike wonder and joy and with their own "weird selves" and that we are helping people to reconnect with the deep inner knowing that at our cores, we are trusting, loving beings - and that in doing this, we create a ripple effect that is boundless.

Sometimes, at the end of the day, I feel like I haven't done nearly enough (cosmically, not tactically) but watching these two young women struggle with being themselves, and worrying when that's too much, or when that's not enough, I realized that every day, I have the opportunity to help someone connect a little bit more with their joy, their weird self, their real self, and that that is a truly important thing for me to accomplish each day.

-Jocelyn Lovelle