There’s a lot of talk about ‘bring your whole self to work’ but what does this really mean and is it relevant to the majority of our people?  Does the proverbial ‘straight, white male’ have an interest in this, or is it simply a minority issue?

‘Covering’ is the idea that we all conceal aspects of our identity or personality to fit in with the prevailing norm.  In his 2006 book, Kenji Yoshino, Professor at NYU Law School in the United States, demonstrated that 45% of straight white men ‘covered’.  Rather than this being a minority issue (gay people not being ‘out’ at work, for example) in fact almost half of straight white men felt they too couldn’t bring their whole selves to work.

Examples given ranged from stigma surrounding the need to leave work early to collect the kids from school, to discussion about mental health issues.  Childcare, for example, is still traditionally seen as a female responsibility.  Indeed in Germany, the term rabenmutter (Raven mother)*, remains widespread in terms of stigmatising any woman that abandoned her ‘nest’ in order to pursue a career.  Yet in addition to disadvantaging women through stereotype and confirmation bias, this situation also stigmatises the man who wants to act outside the male norm and actually just collect his kids from school once a week.

Women often cover their femininity in order to fit in to a male norm and are thus disadvantaged as a result because they are not male.  We know that in certain parts of our firm there may be pressure for women to be more masculine to show that they have ‘presence’ and ‘impact’.  Indeed, a People Leader I spoke to this week told me about a case where the proposed solution from one male partner to a quieter woman seeking promotion was to send her on an ‘impact course’.

When women have to earn the respect of colleagues by acting masculine, we get into risky territory.  Ann Hopkins sued PwC when she was asked to cover, her delivery suffered and her nomination for the partnership was taken away. She later went on to win this case and was the first person admitted into the partnership by court order.

One of the most impressive things I have seen in KPMG over the last year is when Vincent Neate and Nick Baber talked about their mental health issues in our Highlights magazine.  You could also start by asking yourself whether you cover, and what you might want to do about it.

When you meet clients, and when you engage colleagues, ask yourself whether they are covering. By you explicitly talking about inclusion and our work in this area, you create a more inclusive environment that may allow them to uncover and to be themselves.

As inclusive leaders, we have a simple job that sometimes feels brave and is always significant.  The positive power of disclosure lies in the very vulnerability you might feel while doing it. By talking about your own story, you create a more inclusive environment that gives others the permission to uncover and convey real honesty. That not only benefits them, it benefits the firm, our client relationships and de-risks our environment.