Connectioneering Over Conformity

Why is there hesitancy about showing personality in the corporate setting?
At what point did “professional” become synonymous with sounding, dressing, and acting the same?

Adobe shares a new term in the article "The four creative trends that will define marketing in 2026" = 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠.
𝘈 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦-𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦.

Now, will more leaders open the door to vulnerability?

Yes, I've heard the things.
Too loud, tone it down. And more.
Even that my nail polish is too much.

After the initial shock and a few attempts to course‑correct, I realized something important: 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞.

And blending in isn’t going to move the needle on 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠, which is 100% 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 "𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠" 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭.

So, I’m choosing a different approach:
- Sharing my personal journey with housing instability
- Creating space for my team to share their own connection to housing
- Building a hype squad that keeps me grounded and calls me in
- Trusting my instincts, even when the dashboards suggest otherwise

How are you showing boldness, or learning to show up and lead anyway?

Stories leaning into shared human experiences is what people want.
Story is seen as a tool for emotional fulfillment, especially in marketing where facts alone don't move people, stories do. (Adobe)

And yes, I’m keeping the loud laugh and loud nail color.