I’ve noticed that sometimes, I speak to my superiors i in a way that’s completely orthogonal to how I’d like to be.
My eyes look down. I speak more quietly with words whimpering out towards the end of my sentences. Almost like I shouldn’t be saying anything. I make more self-deprecating jokes.
When does this happen —
Usually a combination of two things — Either I am talking to someone I’d like to impress, or I’ve been working on something frustrating and hard, and want it to be over quickly.
Both times have the flight-or-flight sense about them.
So how do we address this?
1 ) Remember that you can’t really hide who you are. Just be the best you can, if people like you, they’ll like you for this, if somehow you manage to trick them, what’s the point of that?
2 ) Remember to gain pride from acting according to your beliefs, rather then what others think of you — Did you try your best, were you diligent, were you courageous? Then good.