Unlock the Hidden Power of How You Show Up
“Who am I here?”: Identity, authenticity, and showing up at work
At work, we’re rarely just doing the job. We’re also shaping an identity, whether that’s consciously or not.
We are not just what we do, but how we do it. How we show up. How we’re seen, and how we want to be remembered.
This is even more acute in moments of change, like new roles, promotions, restructures, but they’re relevant all the time. Because our identity at work, just like in the rest of our life, is constantly evolving.
It’s something I see often as a coach and something I find fascinating as someone who studied Philosophy. People navigating new dynamics, fresh challenges, or shifts in self-perception often find themselves wondering:
- Who do I need and want to be here?
- Do I need to prove myself?
- Can I say I don’t know?
- Is it OK to show emotion?
- Will I lose credibility if I show a more human side?
There’s often a tension between being ourselves and adapting to fit the context, especially when we’re still figuring out what’s going on around us. I grappled with this for yeas, especially as I became more senior.
There’s no one fixed ‘authentic you’: the authenticity range
Recently, someone I follow on LinkedIn shared that they’re exactly the same person inside and outside work. That’s a lovely ideal, and one I partly agree with, but I don’t think it’s realistic for most people.
That’s because most of us aren’t the same at work as we are at home. And that’s not necessarily a problem. I used to keep Work Angharad and Home Angharad really separate because that’s what I’d seen my parents model (in the 1980s!). It worked but in the long run it was too extreme for me and I do regret some of the distance I created.
Authenticity doesn’t mean sharing everything though. It doesn’t mean staying the same in every room. We all have a range, I call it ‘the authenticity range’, and we can choose which parts to dial up or down depending on the setting. I believe that our authenticity range, like our comfort zone, can be worked on to expand and be reshaped.
That’s not about being fake. It’s about being thoughtful, purposeful and clear on how we want to come across and why. It’s the foundation of our personal brand.
It’s especially relevant when you’re stepping into a new role, where the context has changed but you haven’t. Yet.
Identity and first impressions
Your role title, your communication style, even your name, all contribute to the story people start to build about who you are. You get seven seconds before someone has made up their mind about you. And whether we like it or not, it is shaped by unconscious bias.
When I read that parents still choose names like James or John because they think they’ll help their sons succeed in the workplace, I had mixed feelings.
I understand wanting to give your child every advantage. But names don’t operate in a vacuum. They succeed (or don’t) within systems of familiarity, access and bias. As someone named Angharad, a name that reflects my Welsh heritage but also regularly gets mispronounced, I know what it means to be remembered, misunderstood, and misjudged based on something as simple as what I’m called.
In a world that forms impressions quickly, how do you want to be seen?
Be deliberate and take control. This isn’t about building a persona or acting, it’s about knowing your authenticity range, aligning how you behave with who you are and what you care about and doing it consciously for the situation and what you want to achieve.
So how do you show up?
There’s no perfect answer, because we’re all different and have multi-faceted lives. But here’s a useful question:
“What impression am I leaving behind, and is it the one I want to leave?”
That doesn’t mean creating a false persona, but it does mean having the self-awareness to notice:
- How you come across
- What you bring forward or hold back
- Where you’re shaping people’s perception, and where it’s shaping you
And then making more deliberate choices from there.
Whether you’re navigating change, stepping into increased responsibility, or simply reflecting on how work fits into who you are, identity is never completely fixed. But when it’s conscious and deliberate, it becomes one of the most empowering tools you have.
If you’re reflecting on how you show up at work, how to develop your personal brand or want support to get clearer on who you are and how to communicate that with impact, I offer 1:1 coaching to help. Book a free call to discuss further.