This is a slide deck from a presentation I gave at the Geek Girls Carrots Berlin meetup on 10 December 2014. Many thanks to SoundCloud for hosting the event, and to the Geek Girls Carrots organizers for allowing me to present.

1. BringYour Whole Self to Work
Making friends, influencing people, and getting sh*t done without selling out,
acting like a robot, or becoming a danger to yourself and others.

2. Hi. My name is
Charlotte,
and I am not a robot.

3. You shouldn’t be, either.

4. Lowlights of my
“professional” career:
• Worked as an office manager for a nut who continually tried to
convert coworkers to his fundamentalist religion.Was told it was
“unprofessional” to wear backless shoes to work. In Texas. In August.
• Worked as a technical support manager for a sexist asshole who
frequently got drunk in the office.Was told it was “unprofessional” to
meet with my coworkers for dinner after work.
• Worked as a project manager for a hedge fund and found that junior
male members of my team were making more money than I was as the
senior.Was told it was “unprofessional” to ask for wage parity.

5. I began to suspect that
“professionalism” is a code word
for institutionalized asshattery.

6. It took me 10 years to figure this out:
The phrase “you’re not acting professionally” actually
means “I feel a negative emotion, I don’t like the way
I’m feeling, and I’m telling myself that it’s all your fault.”

7. The code of “professionalism” tells us...
• To NOT speak our minds when we have an opinion or idea that differs from
opinions held by our managers or colleagues.
• To push interpersonal issues under the rug and be falsely cordial to our colleagues,
rather than addressing issues as they arise and creating durable bonds with our
coworkers.
• To hide away aspects of our personal lives that are intrinsic to our worldview and
affect how we perceive our work and make decisions (e.g., our race, culture,
orientation, etc).
• That we must constantly strive to please everyone around us, no matter how
unpleasant or unreasonable we find them to be, and that we are responsible for
others’ emotions.

8. The code of “professionalism” is
simply a double standard.

9. This, brothers and sisters,
is bullshit.

10. Humans are not robots.

11. Humans are complex creatures who actually
perform better and enjoy their jobs more
when they can express themselves freely.

12. There is an alternative to
rampant professionalism.

13. Stop thinking about people as
“them,” and start thinking about
them as people.

14. Speak openly to one another
about interpersonal issues and
other hard things.

15. Be mindful of your own emotions
and how you express them - and
how that expression affects others.

16. Be mindful of how others are
expressing their emotions - and
how that expression affects you.

17. Share experiences:
past, present, and future.

18. Maintain a sense of perspective
and - preferably - humor.

19. Norly, is this actually doable?

20. Yes, if you remember a few things:

21. Start by showing authenticity
yourself, and others may follow.

22. It’s scary not to please people.

23. Tell others why.

24. Insist on being treated well,
and treat others accordingly.

26. I have been Charlotte, and you have
been a lovely set of unique individuals...
possibly with some questions?

27. Call me maybe:
charlotte@charlottegauthier.com
www.charlottegauthier.com
de.linkedin.com/in/charlottebowen