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"How do you get to the place where you can put aside those fears and show up authentically because, really, the room actually needs you in it." — Tricia Montalvo Timm, Bestselling Author of "Embrace the Power of You: Owning Your Identity At Work"
As humans, we’ve been taught adaptation is critical to survival. But in the workplace, adapting often makes it difficult to show up as our authentic selves.
Tricia Montalvo Timm, bestselling author of "Embrace the Power of You: Owning Your Identity At Work," literally wrote the book on this subject. Timm, a first-generation Latina of Salvadoran and Ecuadorian heritage, spent years trying to avoid talking about or signaling her background at work.
One moment, however, encouraged her to change how she showed up at work. She soon found that being yourself at work can help you live authentically and positively impact your organization.
Timm joined a recent episode of the "Unpacking the Digital Shelf" podcast, "Unlocking Peace, Power, and Impact by Owning Your Identity at Work," to share why authenticity is crucial to success in the workplace, how managers can foster a culture of belonging, and how brands can embrace authenticity to truly connect with and engage customers.
Timm, who previously worked as general counsel at Looker, a Google Cloud company, says she began to downplay her ethnicity from a very young age after her family moved to a suburban community with few other Latino families.
"My parents … wanted a better life for me. That generation, or many in that generation, believed assimilation was the path to success here in America," Timm says.
As a result, Timm worked hard to blend in. She started her career at a corporate law firm with very few women in leadership roles. Timm was often one of the first or few people in the room with her background — an experience that’s continued throughout her 25-year career journey.
To effectively navigate these spaces, Timm would quickly conduct a process she calls "scan, evaluate, and adapt."
"For example, as a young female in the corporate room, I would walk in, and, depending on who I was talking to, I would adapt what I would say, how I would speak, how I would hold myself," she says. "So, if I was talking to an older gentleman in the industry, I would stand up as tall as I can, stand up, I'm 5 '2" ... and talk about the stock market or some fancy industry terms. I wouldn't certainly bring in anything about my kids at home, for example."
Timm ultimately realized she spent too much energy trying to adapt who she was to gain acceptance, and these experiences led her to write her book during the pandemic. The book provides insightful advice for those who navigate similar challenges at work.
Timm encourages employees to find ways to authentically tell their story once they feel comfortable, as being yourself at work can look depending on where you are in your journey.
For Timm, something clicked when she took part in her last company’s Storyteller Program during Hispanic Heritage Month. Timm shared her personal story for the first time in front of hundreds of employees.
She was worried about how she would be perceived but received overwhelmingly positive feedback after the event. The fact that she was in leadership only magnified the impact of her personal story.
"When I finished telling my story, I had a number of the Latino employees in my organization come up to me, many in tears, hugging me just saying [that] first they had never seen someone like them in leadership telling their story so openly," she says. "They also said, 'My story is your story, and it just feels so welcoming to know that others struggle in the same way.' In that moment, I realized that by not telling my story, what a disservice that was for others in the organization."
Timm says that for many, showing up authentically at work takes time. She offers a three-step process to help people feel more comfortable being themselves in the workplace.
There are so many messages in the media, the world, and within our own social circles that tell you you don’t fit in. Timm says self-reflection is crucial: Acknowledging these internalized feelings and working to unpack and dissect them is a key step toward releasing the shame associated with them.
We often need to be reminded of the value we bring to a room — which is why it’s so important to have supportive people around us. "Surround yourself with people [who] see the value in you, whether that’s a friend, a partner, a therapist, a community, an employee resource group, or a mentor," Timm says.
Just like Timm did, find opportunities to authentically connect with others by revealing small parts of yourself. For more than 20 years, Timm wore her hair straight at work, went by Tricia instead of Patricia (pronounced pah-TREE-see-ah), and didn’t list any affinity groups on her LinkedIn or resume that would indicate she was Latina or a bilingual Spanish speaker.
She gradually reclaimed her identity by making her maiden name, Montalvo, her middle name and using it professionally. She also stopped straightening her hair.
"If you start in safe places where you feel that you'll be accepted with friends, family, community, [you can] then build up the courage to continue into other spaces," she says.
Timm’s book includes several self-reflection exercises that are designed to help readers cultivate self-acceptance and use this as fuel to authentically show up at work.
"As I was unpacking and thinking about what would serve my reader the best, I realized that some of these questions that I asked myself during the journey would also help my reader," she says. "And that's where some of the self-reflection moments [come in] because the core message of my book is belonging begins with self-acceptance."
But it’s not only up to employees to cultivate a sense of belonging. Businesses also need to nurture it.
"When employees can show up as their authentic selves, they come to work with excitement and purpose. All of that energy wasted on hiding can instead be harnessed into producing high-quality work." — Tricia Montalvo Timm, Bestselling Author of "Embrace the Power of You: Owning Your Identity At Work"
Timm’s advice for managers is to show up with vulnerability, which will give "space to others to not have to live up to this standard of perfection."
"Vulnerability creates an invitation for others to show their vulnerability and [for you] to humanize yourself as a manager," she adds.
Looker, Timm’s previous company, fostered this kind of culture. Employees never felt like they had to hide parts of themselves. If they needed to leave at 4 p.m. for a yoga class or their child’s recital or football game, they were open and honest about it.
Managers can also employ other strategies to create a culture of belonging. If they notice one person is silent during a team meeting, for example, they can challenge groupthink by offering alternative points of view, Timm says. This may give others with diverse perspectives space to share their thinking.
Creating a culture of belonging and authenticity can pay dividends for companies in so many ways, including with customers. Brands that take steps to nurture such a culture internally can also benefit from this externally to better connect with their audience.
Timm says several brands showcase how to do this well. Nike launched a performance hijab for Muslim female athletes, for example, that unlocked huge revenue opportunities for the company.
During the most recent Super Bowl, the NFL aired its first commercial focused on women’s flag football in which world champion Diana Flores speaks to her mom in Spanish. The commercial featured English subtitles.
"Just that connection, that authenticity, created a larger market. It connected with an audience in a way that it hadn't before," Timm says. She adds that brands must have diverse perspectives in the room when they create this content. Otherwise, they can produce something that unintentionally harms the community they’re trying to connect with.
Timm says authenticity — whether it emanates from employees or the brand itself — offers so much value for organizations. Despite recent pushback on efforts to create more inclusive workplaces, Timm is still hopeful that more companies are creating space for their employees to show up authentically.
“There are so many more people in leadership that are wanting to have this conversation that didn't happen before," she says. "I have a lot of hope that … [that will] empower more people as they come up through the ranks to continue to have the conversations that create these spaces of belonging."
To hear more of Timm’s insights on the value of authentically being yourself at work, listen to the full episode.
