Professionalism: The Silent Killer of Team Culture
Productivity, progress, and success are put on the back-burner when you prioritize decorum, etiquette, and propriety
👋🏻 HI, I’M BRI, AND I’M A MAXIMALIST. 👋🏻
Shocking, I know. And if this does shock you, we need to hang out more. ✨🌈
Maximalism is in my DNA, y’all. She’s coursing through my veins (there’s probably more glitter than plasma in there).
My closet? A riot of prints, colors, and sequins.
My apartment? Imagine a team of five-year-olds were given full creative control. Woe is my husband.
My office? Same energy — tchotchkes! Doodads! Neon explosions galore!
And here’s the kicker:
I’ve broken almost every unwritten rule of “professionalism” and still been a high-performer and a kick-ass leader.
Which is why, with all the love in my heart, I roll my eyes (so hard they nearly leave orbit) when I see yet another LinkedIn think-piece about workplace manners, or overhear a coworker tattling to HR about a dress code “incident,” or someone clutching their pearls over emojis in emails.
Friends, we are regulating ourselves into oblivion.
MOST WORKPLACE RULES AREN’T THE PROBLEM
Don’t get me wrong: I’m not a (complete) rebel. I’ve read a lot of employee handbooks, and most rules are fine. Reasonable, even. Mostly. 😈
(Though dress codes? Yikes. Don’t get me started. That rant deserves its own post, and one day I will unleash it like Godzilla in sequins and a rainbow wig.)
The real problem?
The unofficial rules — the ones enforced not by policy, but by personal preference masquerading as propriety.
You know the ones:
