Barbie - Kay White

It really made me laugh when I read someone’s description of herself as being “Work Barbie”.

What she was saying was how she put on a work persona which made her more authoritative and comfortable being in a position of responsibility when she was much younger than people in the office thought she was.

They treated her with more respect and referred to her as something of a Rottweiler.

None of this is surprising nor particularly ‘bad’ even if you might be thinking “but Kay you should always be yourself, everyone says so…”

Yourself Everyone Already Taken Oscar Wilde

Well my response to that would be Yes & No.

You are always yourself it’s just that depending on the circumstances, you bring a different energy and mindset with you.

A bit like an outfit – I don’t wear an evening dress to go to the pub for lunch…

I remember when I was promoted a number of my colleagues said that they thought I already was a Director.

I’m 6 foot tall, wear heels, speak up, dress smartly (and at the time had big hair and wore shoulder pads!) and am very comfortable interacting with people at all levels.

That was my Work Barbie version.

It was also my in-general version but it was really helpful at work.

It got me thinking about the many versions of ourselves we bring with us wherever we go and how we can ‘shape shift’ the versions – if we choose – depending on the context.

Having worked with a number of Compliance Directors recently, all have had the experience of being overlooked or underestimated at work.

All have tweaked their persona at work to be less ‘matey’ so there’s not such pressure on being ‘nice’ when you have a tough message to deliver.

One client actually said to a colleague who refused to back down about a non-compliant action along the lines of “OK, go ahead. Do that. I won’t sign it off and you can pick up your Go To Jail card on the way out.”