Cy Wakeman: Don’t Bring Your Whole Self to Work (Ep. 7)

There is not a lot that gets by Cy Wakeman.

The speaker and founder of Reality-Based Leadership has a background in cognitive behavior therapy. She has worked in leadership positions within both clinical and corporate settings. And, at home in Nebraska, she and her husband raise eight boys.

Let me rephrase, nothing gets by Cy Wakeman.

I first met Cy at a WorkHuman Conference in Orlando, Florida a couple of years ago. And instantly, I found her presence and message compelling.

It is common to hear at conferences all of this “rah-rah humans are great” talk. But what Cy brings to the table is something very nuanced. She takes what is normally inaccessible for most people within psychology and creates these user-friendly hooks. And these principles are useful for any human hoping to be more effective in their interactions with other humans. This kind of sensitivity to making big ideas accessible is even reflected in how she describes what she does: a drama researcher.

If you are someone who has had a leadership role, you may have become frustrated with top-down approaches to making change happen in your organization. There are a lot of measures we take from a human resources perspective to get buy-in, to make concessions and to make systems optimized for human beings.

And it is in that context that Cy’s point of view becomes compelling: What if instead of working to orchestrate the perfect circumstances for everyone, we challenge one another to show up as our higher selves? What if, the next time you faced a challenge, you would not shake your fist toward the sky at the fates? What if, instead, you entreated your team to ask: What would great look like?