Thanking Corporate Superheroes

It doesn’t cease to amaze me how reluctant people are to “speak human” and express any feelings in the business world. We have all spent so long under this cloak of “professionalism” complete with impression management and wooden language, that we have come to be more comfortable in it than when we are when “being real”. This is before we even scratch the surface of how emotions have forever been all but banned in most companies.

Those of us who do insist on calling out spades and being hard-hitting and true, are so few and far between, that I bet you can name 5-6 people off the top of your head who are making all the noise in your particular industry. Their names keep popping up on LinkedIn. Loud, obstinate, definitive, overly-opinionated, almost brutal in delivery, those of us who are unapologetically addicted to pointing out the hard truths are seen as brash and uncomfortable by many.

This is because we are -collectively- overridden with fear. The biggest of them: being 110% honest and losing face somehow. Being thought of as a lunatic or an eccentric. Being seen as “too soft” or “too emotional”. Being perceived as “that guy”. And of course, there’s a bigger risk than the image loss one, the job insecurity. Those of us “loud but allowed” are either not in the belly of the beast (independent or working for start-ups or scale-ups) or in a corporate role but they feel mandated to think, explore and debate.

Sounds like the ideal set-up doesn’t it? Being invited to be honest and critique. Ah, to work in a place where you don’t have to say less but more. Where you don’t have to hold back or bite your tongue. Where nothing is off the table or needs to be brushed under the carpet. Freedom, lack of blame, authenticity, these are all strong reasons to be envious of this lot that seemingly gets to have the best of both worlds - the freedom of expression of an independent and the paycheck of a corporate employee. In reality, it’s neither a super comfortable place and it is a remarkably transient one.

Cast your mind to some of these “internal free thinkers who dare to critique” corporate warriors you have met over the years. How many of them are still in that role? I’m willing to bet that number is dismal. What about their legacy? What major thing changed because they had the courage to point to the naked emperor in public? Not much, I bet.