Personality | Should you be yourself at work?

In professional settings, many business leaders will be concerned with making a good first impression. Whether that is to help them bag a job, secure a new client deal or to help them get ahead on the corporate ladder, leaders are wise to the importance of first impressions.

But new research conducted with Ovul Sezer of the University of Carolina at Chapel Hill and Laura Huang and Francesca Gino of Harvard Business School found that it is common for people to adapt their personality to cater to the interests and expectations of others – rather than be themselves in these situations.

In a study that surveyed more than 450 adult employees, 66% admitted that they would use catering techniques rather than being themselves in situations that involved pitching an idea to investors, interviewing for a dream role or presenting to a client.

Additionally, more than seven in ten (71%) believed that altering themselves to suit the expectations of others was the most effective way of approaching these sorts of situations.