Are you guilty of code-switching at work?

My sister, Gabby, is undoubtedly one of my biggest supporters — and as most people who have siblings will also tell you, she can be a pretty harsh critic as well. 

So, after sending her a link to the very first Hello Monday episode I worked on, she quickly let me know that something was off. And she was right. I didn’t sound like “me.” I was code-switching at work. Somewhere along the way, I’d made a choice not to bring my authentic self to work.

As is turns out, I'm not alone in doing so; far from it.

Dr. Courtney McCluney's work has focused heavily on this issue. She is an Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior at Cornell University. In 2019, she and her colleagues published an article in the Harvard Business Review exploring the True Cost of Code-Switching. Their findings registered with a lot of people. And they certainly struck a chord with me, so for this episode of Hello Monday, we explored what code-switching is, why people do it and whether we should at all.

Take a listen here:

I’ve been thinking a lot about what bringing my true self to work would look like. I must admit for me, it’s a scary thought to entertain. Outside of my Black Inclusion Group community and newly-formed Caribb[In] Crew at LinkedIn, my love for soca, pelau and AAVE remains mostly under wraps. 

I’m curious to hear more about your experiences with code-switching. We’ll also be talking more about it during Office Hours this Wednesday at 3 p.m. EST. Find us on the LinkedIn News page or email us at hellomonday@linkedin.com and we’ll send you a link. Hope to see you there.