Bernadette Boas on why highly sensitive people struggle in noisy offices. Corporate culture tells them to toughen up and hide their feelings, but uncontrolled sound disrupts focus and triggers their nervous system. Sensitive leaders face judgment for showing emotion.
A lot of the people that I work with got the message that they were too sensitive, that they're— that they had to grow a thicker skin, that, um, they couldn't have the things that they wanted to create an environment that worked for them. For example, for me, I am highly, highly sensitive to sound and to noise. And if I've got lots of uncontrollable noise around me, I can't focus, I can't concentrate, and it sets my nervous system off. This is true with a lot of the people I work with. And yet it's very hard to control your environment, right? And I was always told, well, you can't have what you want. Some of us are, can be very emotional, and it is really just part of the way that our brains are wired. And yet it's very hard to show up as a leader, especially in the corporate world, and show emotion, right? You get judged for that. But again, the themes are very common, and I was seeing them over and over again.
From Stuck to Leading, Episode 2 — Meet the 5 Inner Fears Destroying Your Leadership
