"bring your whole self to work" and other wanky work phrases

[CrabbitBastard]

I really loathe that expression "bring your whole self to work". Its so wanky and also inaccurate - no one ever brings their whole self to work. We all want to keep our work and private lives separate don't we?

dont think my colleagues would appreciate me bringing my sweary, slobby, cheesy music loving side to work. What about those individuals who might be having relationship, infertility, health problems and not be comfortable sharing this with others? Therefore, they won't be bringing their 'whole selves' to work.
I also hate "we are like a family here" My real life dad wouldn't question why I needed time off work to see my doctor or anything like that!
Its great that companies are friendly or inclusive, but all those wank phrases really grind my teeth.
What other phrases do MNetters hate?

I love the digital innovations random client has been making in the social media space!

I find myself saying these sort of things on a daily basis in a very enthusiastic tone of voice. Shudder.

There was a funny thread about this a few weeks ago and somebody worked with a guy who told all his colleagues about his chem sex orgies at the weekend. I had to laugh.

I don't want people's whole selves at work. I want their work persona. The professional one. I don't give a fuck who they are sleeping with/not sleeping with/wanting to sleep with. It's none of my business. I want them to do their job and be helpful. And i will do the same. That's all. Is that too much to ask?

Surely the expression just means that you should be able to be honest about yourself at work, not that you act like a misery. So for example, people should be able to share that they are gay if they chose to.

Yeah, I have worked with serious over-sharers. A few different people involved in what they considered polyamourous groupings that no one else wanted to know about. Especially when one brought the gf to a work function and they were super touchy-feeling. Gag.

I absolutely hate it, its completely irrelevant who your whole self is, just do the bloody job

This is why we have huge numbers of people that dont act professionally, because they're being 'themselves'

@GSBJ

Are you spamming every thread with that poem?

I agree with you OP. I don't want to see or know about their non work personas. It's not relevant. And when we were forced to do it, I tried, a bit, and got told I was passive agreeable so fuck that!

We have this at work. My boss invited me and my partner to his house for dinner for his birthday. I pretended we were away. I don’t want to mix my personal life and work - I spend enough hours there already. Maybe I am just a curmudgeon!

That’s not what the phrase means though. It just means you shouldn’t have to mask at work.

so e.g. if you have ADHD it’s OK to talk about it. Or if you need to do the school run in the morning you don’t need to hide that you are a parent.

Inclusivity

anyone who has any sort of disability that means they need actual, material adjustments, will know what utter fucking bullshit this is.

It's the sexual oversharing and thinking everyone wants to listen or join in that I object to. I've worked in offices where it is rife. Not someone casually mentioning their same sex partner/spouse made their packed lunch for them.

You will need to mask at work, everyone does, I cant go in an be a headless chicken with my anxiety, I have to deal with it and make it manageable, it wouldnt be fair or appropriate to my colleages and clients if not.

Exactly this, 'bring your whole self to work' is just lazy cynical 'inclusion' for someone to be a 'character'

It has never materialised the equipment I need for my physical disabilities, thats just not interesting enough or quirky or edgy, its plain old boring IT equipment that I will never see

We’re all masking to a greater or lesser extent at work. As for sexuality, I actually feel it was more acceptable (for me at least) to be open about being gay 20 years ago.

We have a screen saver at work that says Be You . As if I'm going to rock up to work and say 'Today , boss , I'm going to be Cher'

I do know what they're actually getting at but every time I see it, I want to appear through a cloud of smoke and announce who I'm going to be that day.

No one wants to hear about my whole self. I've tried. They care about whole self when it comes to sexuality or bright hair they don't when it's me the introverted disabled one.

Yes to the posts about disability. I'm disabled (as well as the aforementioned sweary!). No one likes it if I bring my disabled self to work, and ask for adjustments, as it makes them awkward.
I find it is a phrase most commonly applied to the LGBT+ community. Nothing against them, but its annoying when other people are not as welcomed.

Agree op. I also hate 'Let's unpack that', 'Let's sit with this'. This one might be school specific but I really hate with a passion when people say 'We need to hold our students tighter', I get the sentiment and am not taking it literally but honestly I want to teach them not be their mother.

The fact that some people don't get this is crazy to me.

I went to university with a few people who were pretty orthodox Catholics, or in one case a member of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Both fairly common in my discipline.

No one wants them to bring their whole self to work either, in fact if they did they'd probably be fired. One eventually left a workplace that increasingly pressured him to be involved with their corporate Pride month activities.

OP have you been reading mail online?
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11345763/Popular-Reddit-thread-reveals-75-things-ANNOYING-people-say.html

Be your authentic self….arrrghh just fuck off!

there’s a sense of disconnect……aaarrgghh!!!

I hate buzzword speak and stupid sayings!

This. E.g. They shouldn’t feel they have to hide the fact they are gay, unless they want to.