How I get personal – without crossing the line

No matter how you feel about Valentine’s Day, love is in the air this week! It’s everywhere – at home, at the grocery store, even at work.

But our workplace relationships are different from our personal relationships, and we don’t often stop to appreciate them or celebrate them.

So this week, I invite you to take a quick inventory of your work relationships:

• How can you be grateful for the relationships you have?

• What can you do to fix the not-so-great ones?

• How can you deepen your bonds with coworkers?

It might be uncomfortable to talk about these things, especially for Gen X women who’ve been warned to avoid mixing their personal lives with work.

But you don’t have to talk about how your kids threw a temper tantrum this morning. (There can sometimes be a cost to sharing those personal details!) We can talk about personal things – without being personal.

Here’s an example from my own life: I never mention my kids’ names or talk about my husband. But I do tell stories about my family and share what I learn from my experiences with them.

One of my favorites is the “Yahoo! Bag” story. When my daughter was in grade school, she used a Yahoo! bag to carry her swim stuff. One time she asked me: “Mom, where’s my Google bag?”

“You mean the bright purple and yellow one that says Yahoo! on it?” I said. And then I thought, “When a seven-year-old confuses Yahoo! and Google you know the brand is suffering.”

I use that story as a jumping off point to talk about branding. There’s nothing personal about it, but it is a personal story that’s relatable. It’s memorable, it makes an impact, and it offers a different perspective.

When we make it safe to share stories like these, we create stronger relationships at work that support a culture of inclusion.

So tell me – are you comfortable sharing personal stories at work? Why or why not? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Hit reply and let me know!

My Latest:

• The best teams are intimate – and not in the squishy way you might be thinking! In my livestream, I shared why you need intimacy at work _ and how to foster it properly.

• Is innovation one of your top priorities? This will help you find more time and space to innovate, without forgoing your hard-won operational excellence.

• Feedback. Ouch! Feedback is a touchy subject. Is it possible to cultivate a culture of feedback without making anyone feel bad? Yes, and I’ve done it! Learn how on Tuesday, February 22 at 9 am PT / 12 pm ET on my livestream.

Good Things:

• Reads: The Leadership Challenge by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner. This book might be 30 years old, but it’s my leadership bible! It’s constantly being updated, and I eagerly devour every new version.

• More Reads: Dan Pink’s new book The Power of Regret is classic Dan where he masterfully blends research and storytelling to explain why this very human emotion prepares us for future challenges. You’ll regret not reading it!

• Referrals: I just started virtual personal training with Future,where my trainer Greg creates a custom program for me each week depending on whether I’m traveling and can only do body weight exercises, have access to a hotel gym, or I’m home and can use my local gym. The best part - I hate tracking things and the app integrates with my Apple watch, making it easy and even fun to capture my strength training progress.

• Resource: I’ve been using Microsoft’s To Do for my shopping (and other) lists, and it’s amazing! I love how easily it syncs and shares – it helps me and my family stay organized on the go.