One of the negatives of our seemingly better, more correct world is a growing dishonesty in the workplace. Among the advantages of installing an internal sensor is the hope that you are therefore less likely to be called into a meeting by HR, judged as a "wild card" or categorized as "not promotable."
On the downside, however, robotizing your communication can have unintended consequences. As a creature of habit, you become more practiced at what you preach. In other words, your communication, delivered in a calculated manner, is free of anything offensive or politically negative, producing a false harmony in the workplace. Over time, however, as a practitioner of this approach, you are apt to come across as disingenuous. "Bull shit meters" will tolerate only so much of this from you and your team. Some will even depart to start their own companies in order to be free to express their genuine feelings.
Perhaps you may have noticed a number of "below average" communicators in today's business world. Compliance with the current politically correct culture is only part of the problem. A lack of knowledge and understanding of human behavior also seems prevalent. Insufficient attention to psychology and communications in MBA curricula contributes to "below average" communication.
But, that's another blog piece! You may be wondering how better understanding of human behavior and communication patterns can translate into a workplace benefit. It's simple: honest, better communicators make more value-added contributions and tend to be the types of managers for and with whom others want to work.
What is the alternative to being politically correct? The first step to being more authentic is to become more self aware. This does not mean engaging in psychotherapy for the next ten years! What it does mean is that you are willing to spend the time, energy and expense investing in your own personal development. You will be able to feel the difference, while becoming a better manager as well as a more creative, innovative strategist after taking the time to go within and learn more about yourself.
The political correctness practiced at work and in public is deceptive. It makes it easier to lie to yourself as to why you are not making meaningful progress in your personal life, relationships, approach to health and fitness and other commitments. Discovering a methodology to use that can cut through the confusion to get to the truth about who you are and why you behave in certain ways is available.
Such a methodology can be discovered In a recently revised edition of "Thought Revolution: How to Unlock Your Inner Genius" by this author. The book is the result of seven years of study, interviews and research on a methodology that can help you gain a much greater self awareness in a relatively short period of time. Based on a Nobel Prize-winning discovery in neuroscience, the process described in the book can help you uncover the sometimes brutal truth about yourself.
Increased self awareness will enable you to show up at work in a more intentional, authentic manner. You will find yourself more able to focus on business problems in a way that allows for more direct, honest feedback. By using the methodology described in "Thought Revolution," you will be unlocking what feels like an added super power through activating the neural pathways to the right hemisphere of your brain, thereby tapping into the more intuitive, creative emotional and artistic section of your brain.
When searching for a solution to a tough problem, you will possess another place to go for an answer. The responses flowing from this process will not be politically correct, but instead could well be the inspired, "Aha" insights for which you have been searching.