I had the great privilege of doing a TEDx talk in Asbury Park NJ a few weeks ago.
My subject was “Reclaiming Humanity at Work”.
Where’s the video?
Many of you have been asking when the video will be available online. Thank you for your interest!
I got the word that the first edits would be available at the end of June, so I’m thinking it will be ready sometime in July.
I will keep you posted!
The experience of doing a TED talk was really interesting.
The two driving factors for a TED talk are that it needs to be “an idea worth spreading”, and that it should be a part of your own authentic story.
As I went through many revisions, I realized that this theme of “humanity at work” really is at the crux of all my work and my own story. Humanity is a theme through both of my books RISE and MOVE, and is foundational element to all of the leadership and organizational work that I do.
I was excited to have the chance to specifically talk about it.
My own story
As I look back on my own career, one of the threads that stretches from the beginning to now, is that I was never someone that sacrificed my humanity to succeed.
What I mean by this is that we all feel pressure to conform sometimes. Many newly promoted managers who are not sure what they need to be doing, think part of the requirement is to act like a big shot. But as soon as you go down this path, you sacrifice your own humanity, and you disrespect the humanity of others.
As my roles got bigger and bigger, and the roles themselves became more powerful, I remained the same person — the same person with a bigger responsibility — but the same person.
As I described in the talk, if you are willing to show up as your true self and respect the ideas and the humanity of others, you get access to a critical kind of organizational information and support that you will never see if you insist on acting like a big shot. (I plan on writing more about this soon.)
Feel Happier at work
What I hoped to share in this talk is a way of working and finding success that people can feel great about, so they can feel happier and more satisfied at work.
If you are willing to show up as your whole, true self, and respect the humanity of others at work, you will actually be at your most powerful and credible. You will also be at your most effective because you will engender the support of others.
And you’ll feel happier because if you feel like the real, interesting, happy person you are on the weekends is somehow not welcome at work, to go through the personality lobotomy every Monday morning to turn into your work-appropriate self is really painful!
I’ll keep you posted on the availability of the TED talk but for now, know that although we can all point to narcissistic, egomaniacs who get ahead in business, it’s not a requirement. You don’t have to be that way if you don’t want to.
I have stayed true to myself and the the humanity of others throughout my whole career, and I find it very gratifying when my work helps others find this path to success as well.
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About Patty
Patty Azzarello is an executive, best-selling author, speaker and CEO/Business Advisor. She became the youngest general manager at HP at the age of 33, ran a billion dollar software business at 35 and became a CEO for the first time at 38 (all without turning into a self-centered, miserable jerk)
You can find Patty at www.AzzarelloGroup.com, follow her on twitter or facebook
Read MOVE
I’m really excited to share all the important ideas and tools I put in my book MOVE to help you get your team (at any level in any kind of organization) to execute your strategy more decisively.
You can download a free preview or order your copy now.
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