In the workplace, “Integrity with Self” is as important as ever

From the “bring your whole self to work” movement of the 2010s to this year’s massive rollback of DEI initiatives, we’ve been given conflicting messages about the merits of workplace authenticity. What does it even mean to be “yourself” at work, and who gets to do this anymore? We used the Map of Meaning’s “Integrity with Self” pathway to cut through the noise.

In 2022, this biting tweet went viral: “im probably nonbinary but I have a job so idrc about that rn.” 

What made this sentiment resonate? For many people, particularly those who are marginalized, being employed seems at odds with being who they truly are (just check out this Reddit thread inspired by the tweet). A 2025 study by the British charity Mental Health First Aid appears to confirm this—while 81% of respondents agreed that being authentically yourself at work is a positive thing, only half of those respondents (41%) said they could do so in practice. 

At any given time, we all inhabit multiple identities that make us who we are—whether that’s LGBTQ+, a parent, Latinx, a caregiver, neurodivergent, Muslim, older, or someone navigating a major life change. And naturally, these aspects of our being don’t just stop when we come to work! But what makes it hard to authentically “show up” as our whole selves? The reasons might range from an intolerant company culture, to a perception of poor job security, to an individual’s own preconceptions of what their colleagues would find acceptable. Whatever the cause, many of us feel we have to leave behind some aspect of our identity and moral values in order to fit into the expectations of our workplace or position. That’s a real shame, since being true to who we are and what we believe—what the Map of Meaning* framework calls “Integrity with Self”—is one of the primary ways we humans can experience meaning in our day-to-day lives. 

What does it even mean to be authentic? 

There’s been a lot of discourse over the past decade about “being yourself” or “being authentic” at work, and there’s plenty of evidence in favor of it. This 2020 study from Harvard, for example, showed that being yourself at work makes you more successful; and this 2023 George Mason University study showed that not being able to be yourself at work leaves you exhausted and more likely to quit. 

In the 2010s, the “whole self” debate, kicked off by a Mike Robbins book and TED talk, took the conversation on workplace authenticity up a notch: should you bring your whole self to work? To Robbins, bringing your whole self means “to fully show up” and “allow ourselves to be truly seen” in the workplace. These days, depending on what media you consume, “bringing your whole self to work” is either essential to your wellbeing and job performance, or super unprofessional and annoying. 

While these voices generally agree that workplace authenticity is a positive thing, they don’t all agree on what being yourself (or your “whole self”) looks like in practice. For some employees, particularly those from marginalized backgrounds, it could mean a reprieve from the toll of code-switching in the workplace. For others, the idea of showing up to work “authentically” in a polarized political climate is out of the question: we’d prefer to keep our heads down and get the job done, reserving our self-expression for the safety of our family and social circles. Others seem to fear the “whole” or "authentic” self as some kind of Id, capable of wreaking havoc on professional spaces with inappropriate personal sharing or uncontrolled emotional outbursts. 

To find some common ground, it’s helpful to apply the Map of Meaning’s framework—particularly the Integrity with Self pathway—to the slippery topic of workplace authenticity.  

Yes, expressing our identity and values at work is healthy. But work is also a place where we develop ourselves—and it’s important to consider whether we like the emerging “self” our work is shaping us into. 

Locating workplace authenticity on the Map of Meaning  

The recent discourse around workplace authenticity has focused on what we “bring to work” and on "showing up as ourselves.” But there's considerably less discussion about how work, over time, can have a considerable influence on our sense of self. Within the Map’s framework, having Integrity with Self doesn’t just mean freely expressing your identity in the workplace. It also means feeling aligned with the version of you that is emerging in response to your current work situation. 

In a nutshell, the Integrity pathway refers to: 

• Whether you like who you are becoming at work: For example, do you find work is making you into someone you don’t recognize—a more cynical person, perhaps, or more of a perfectionist? 

• Whether you are developing, or losing, your values and virtues: Does your work make you more courageous, kind, compassionate? Or do you find your work has eroded certain positive qualities you once had? 

And of course... 

• Your ability to be true to yourself: This has to do with being nonbinary at work, or Black at work, or Christian at work—whether you feel comfortable expressing the various aspects of your identity, or feel the need to mask and downplay these aspects of your experience. Being true to yourself can also mean having the confidence to speak up at work when you feel something isn’t right. 

  
  

This way of looking at integrity in the workplace acknowledges that work is a two-way street: Yes, expressing our identity and values at work is healthy. But work is also a place where we develop ourselves—and it’s important to consider whether we like the emerging “self” our work is shaping us into. 

We tend to talk about Integrity with Self when it’s missing. But why? 

There’s an odd human tendency to speak about integrity only when it’s absent. When we’re experiencing a high degree of Integrity with Self at work, we can’t always point to an example of this integrity in action—we just know that at work, we feel comfortable being who we are and have a general sense that we are developing ourselves in a positive direction. However, when Integrity with Self is missing at work, we may have far more specific stories to tell—how we wished we’d had the courage to offer a differing perspective at a meeting, for example, but stayed quiet to avoid drawing negative attention from colleagues. 

When we interviewed Map of Meaning creator Dr. Marjolein Lips-Wiersma, she told us about the qualitative research that led to each of the four pathways in the Map (you can read Part 1 and Part 2 of that conversation on the MeaningSphere blog). The topic of “integrity,” she quickly learned, was something people tended to speak about only in the negative. 

“Of course when you say, ‘is integrity important to living meaningfully?’ Everyone says yes,” Lips-Wiersma told us.

“And then, you say, ‘Give me some examples of that.’ People actually find that very hard. When I did my qualitative research, I realized it was mainly spoken about when people didn't have it; when they were out of integrity.” 

The good news? We don’t have to wait until work feels utterly meaningless to have an honest check-in with ourselves—we can get started right away. 

How to discover (or maintain) a more authentic worklife 

By periodically taking stock of how work is impacting our experience in all four of the Map’s pathways—Integrity with Self, Unity with Others, Service to Others, and Expressing Full Potential—we can better articulate our experience and make more “meaning-informed” choices about work. You can do this reflection on your own, or get a jump-start with the Meaningful Work Inventory Experience, a bundle which includes the Meaningful Work Inventory assessment and 1:1 Guided Discussion where you’ll unpack your results and develop an action plan. 

In addition to locating opportunities for improvement, the practice of reflection also enables us to articulate what’s working well in our current situation. This way, we can make sure to nurture those aspects of our worklife that are important to us, even as we continue to progress and take on new roles and responsibilities. So, if it turns out that Integrity with Self is important to you (and since you’ve read this far, there’s a good chance it is), you can make this a conscious priority as you move through your career. This might mean seeking out organizations, partners, or collaborators whose values align well with your own, or considering the culture and values of a potential employer as much as the salary, location, or benefits of the role. 

 Do you find that you can simply breathe more easily among your friends, family, or chosen community than you do at the office? This type of observation is valuable, reminding you that there is a context in which you can be authentically yourself. 

Can’t make changes overnight? Start by noticing 

Having a job shouldn’t be at odds with being ourselves, expressing our morals and values, and developing ourselves in a positive direction. But we also know it’s tough out there—especially for people from marginalized communities and backgrounds. More and more US companies are rolling back their DEI programs, sending the message that diversity and inclusion are no longer (and maybe never were) priorities in those places. If you don’t feel you can be true to yourself at work right now, well, that’s probably not your fault. There’s no shame in playing it safe in an unwelcoming workplace, and we’re not about to tell you to “just be yourself” if you’re not feeling it. (Integrity with Self is, unfortunately, not a fake-it-til-you-make-it sort of thing!)

However, there’s power in simply noticing and articulating how work affects your Integrity with Self. This helps to disperse any unhelpful, self-blaming thoughts and feelings and look more objectively at the problem. Do you find, for example, that you can simply breathe more easily among your friends, family, or chosen community than you do at the office? This type of observation is valuable, reminding you that there is a context in which you can be authentically yourself. 

Finding, or creating, a comparable experience at work can be a slow process. But by paying attention to the Integrity with Self pathway, we can start to better understand who we are and what we need at work (and, as a bonus, stop feeling bad about things that aren’t our fault). From there, we can make changes, big or small, that move us closer to who we truly are. And that’s pretty meaningful. 

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*Developed by Dr. Marjolein Lips-Wiersma at Auckland University of Technology, the Map of Meaning has been used by individuals and organizations for decades as a tool for understanding how we experience meaning—and therefore, what makes work meaningful rather than meaningless. The Map comprises four pathways and three tensions which we must balance to create individual and collective meaning. This framework is the basis of MeaningSphere’s Meaningful Work Inventory Experience.