When Our Job Becomes Our Identity
It is critical that we learn to distinguish and differentiate our roles from our self. We get into trouble when we lose ourselves in our role instead of thinking in a detached way about how the role is viewed by others...we forget that others in our organizations are reacting to the role we represent in their work lives, not necessarily the interesting and thoughtful people we think we are.
When we identify who we are with what we do professionally, set backs at work can often prompt us to spiral down emotionally. When something is merely an organizational issue we take it as a personal issue. Harvard University Lecturer, Timothy O’Brien, talks about the importance of distinguishing who we are as individuals from what we do at work. People tend to relate to us based off of the role we play in their lives. So for example, if we are in a leadership role, those working under us may not invite us to social gatherings, not because of who we are as people, but because of our relationship to them at work. O’Brien says that many leaders struggle to “be a boss and a friend at the same time.” But, when we embrace our role and the inevitable repercussions that come along with it we are better equipped to draw the line between ourselves and our role.
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