Feb 17, 2021
Welcome back to the Catapulting Commissions podcast with your host, Anthony Garcia! Today, Anthony is having a former guest return to share even more of what they know. Erin Hatzikostas is a CEO, author, career coach, TEDs/keynote speaker, and podcast co-host. She’s determined to create a massive authenticity movement to eradicate the all-too-fake Corporate world and enable people to have a big career, without compromising everything else.
Erin’s new book, You Do You (ish) hurls aside the crusty, centuries-old career advice you’ve likely heard for way too long: lean in, executive presence, network, blah, blah, blah. Instead, the book will help you see that there's a better way to have success and get great results. An approach that will produce a massive win-win: you succeed, you don’t sell out. This book is full of stories, information, tactics, and philosophy that was begging to get written down. When she had this idea, she NEEDED to get it out. When the pandemic hit, Erin knew she would have the time a book needs to be fleshed out properly. The message was on her heart and mind, and the timing was right.
Erin states in her book “unleash your authentic superpowers to get the career you deserve.” As corporate America evolves, sometimes authenticity gets clouded. For her, authenticity in the workplace is not simply about being yourself. There is permission to be yourself, unafraid of what makes you unique, however, there is more nuance. The Greek origin of the word “authentic” means to be genuine, but also original and autorotative. This is an intersection of being yourself and being a badass. Most of her book is about how you can put in the framework to use authenticity as your secret weapon--a way to stand out and drive the chains. She developed an acronym for this sort of thing--HUMANS: Humility, Unexpected, Model, Adapt, Narrate, and Spark. Within each of those components is a weapon to equip yourself with. The underlying message is you can do things your own way. This isn’t about changing people, it’s about changing addictions. There will be some internal work rewriting the “sucky songs” or limiting beliefs that needs to be done, and Erin’s book breaks that down. Also in this framework and in Erin’s book is understanding that this is the groundwork to start experimenting. When you do, it gets you addicted to the next step.
Corporate politics are no one’s favorite, but it’s certainly prevalent these days. Anthony and Erin discuss ways to combat this behavior through authenticity. By making yourself, your team, and the work you do more human, you build genuine connections with people that have real, measurable business results. There will always be bad actors, but don’t let that deter you from going after a leadership role. You can be the person to shift the culture by being genuine and authentic. If you’re not in that role yet, this system can help you. This isn’t a leadership book, it’s a person book. The “Spark” part of her framework, or the inspiration, is a circular reference. When Erin got her job, she thought her role was to be that energizer bunny. She realized soon after her employee surveys came back that it would take more. She realized her job as a leader is to create an inspiration platform. Your job is to put in place the things that encourages inspiration to fly around the workplace from person to person. Inspiration doesn’t come from the top down--it’s a circle. You don’t need a reason to wait to make that change.
It’s hard to ignore how the pandemic has changed the workplace. Erin sees it like this: there’s been no greater tailwind for authenticity in the workplace. She fears that if we don’t act purposefully and strategically--dropping the bad and bringing along the good--we will lose momentum.
LINKS
Bauthenticinc.com
@ErinHatzikostas