How Work shapes your Personality

Being in a particular environment every day, for eight or more hours each day, for several years, has a big impact on the habits of our mind and behaviour. It influences our view of life and how we understand it, the way we think of ourselves and how we relate to others.

Very often, though, we notice these changes only at a distance – without realising the impact on us personally, simply because the altered attitudes and habits come to us quite naturally.

Although there is not much data specifically about the workplace experience, there is a huge body of scientific research to substantiate the view, that the way we experience our environment, impactss us.

The environment may be different in the workplace, but the way we process the interface with our workplace experiences, and how this affects our thinking and behaviour is likely to be quite similar.

The workplace may be a professional space, but the emotions we feel in that space are bound to affect us and becomes a part of our culture. The workplace Culture becomes an environment at work which surrounds you at all other times, as well.

The memory of the experience may fade away over the years, but its impact on our personality does not. This is more so, since the twentieth century, with the emergence of ‘knowledge workers’ who ‘think for their work’. Work shapes behaviour and work stories shape our life stories.

Clearly, if we experience trust, honesty, integrity and social cohesion at the workplace, it will foster in us the ability to trust and work in teams. A culture of hierarchy at work, on the other hand, may alter our mindset and make us inflexible. A culture of adhocracy will undoubtedly foster creativity and innovation.
A Personal Perspective

Having worked with Hindustan Unilever Ltd. (HUL) – the Indian arm of Unilever PLC -for over three decades, I often say “I am what I am because of HUL”. I cannot pinpoint what and when these changes took place, that have shaped the person I have become. But I do know that:

1. The Person I was on 31st December 1984, the day I joined the Company, and the person I am today, are two very different versions of me.
2. Undoubtedly, my family background and childhood upbringing, schooling and university experiences have provided the foundation on which my three decades with HUL has built up. But the edifice, certainly carries the HUL brand
3. The kind of leaders I worked with, both in HUL and prior, have exposed me to the best of minds and a whole new world of learning, almost like an University experience.

So, consciously or unconsciously, we imbibe the values and culture of our workplace and these enrich our personality or alter it in other ways.