Covering is hiding personal traits to belong to a group or at work. But how to identify it? This is all you need to know about Covering.
Have you ever changed your appearance to give your boss a different impression? Are you reluctant to give your opinion because you think it won't be well received? Do you feel like you can't be authentic with your coworkers and are constantly playing a role? Congratulations: you are doing some covering at work.
As with Imposter Syndrome and Radical Candor, Covering may sound like a very abstract and scary concept but there's nothing to worry about... or is there?
Covering is the need to hide, inhibit, mask or copy some personal traits in order to fit into a social group that has more power or a higher level of hierarchy. We share a very simple example: remember when you were a kid and the "cool kids" wore Converse so you asked your mom to buy you some. Or the other way around, when you wanted to wear your SpongeBob t-shirt to school but didn't because you thought others might criticize you. That's covering. covering.
This "new" concept was developed by sociologist Erving Goffman in 1963 and is considered "the most influential American sociologist of the 20th century". With the "Presentation of the Self [ENG]" theory he elaborates on in his book Stigma: notes on the management of spoiled identity, he explains that even people with very marked stigmatic personalities try to "cover" these stigmas.
Some years later (2006), a description of the behavior was introduced by Kenji Yoshino, in his book Covering: the Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights, explains the four edges in which people cover up at work [ENG]:
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Appearance: When people change the presentation of themselves, from hairstyle, attire and mannerisms. For example: a black woman may straighten her hair to look less like her race.
Affiliation: When people avoid behaviors for fear that they may be linked to stereotypes. For example: a parent who is the primary caregiver for his or her children may avoid commenting on this for fear of being perceived as not being committed to his or her job.
Defense: refers to the extent to which people feel they have to defend the group to which they belong. For example: a person restricts himself from going to a protest in favor of marijuana legalization for fear that it will affect his professional image and career.
Association: When people avoid contact with other members of other associations. For example: a homosexual person does not invite his or her partner for fear of appearing "too gay".
According to Deloitte's "Diversity And Inclusion 2019 [ENG]" survey applied to around 3 thousand employees from different organizations and industries. 61% admitted to having some attitude of covering at work. We do not know if the other 39% were covering when answering this survey.
Covering can be strongly linked to race (79% of black men, 67% of black women and 63% of Latinos admitted to having it) and sexual identity (83% of the LGBT community hide at work). Although the culture of the organization and how senior management acts is a major influence. For example, when the managers of an organization are all of the same race, age, gender, employees may cover up certain personal aspects to fit in.
Now that we have defined what covering is and what its implications are, many questions will arise: have you thought about how much covering you do at work? do you suspect if there is any covering in your team? can covering be positive? and the most important: can we live every day without filters?
Many questions will remain unanswered. The only thing we know for sure is that when people take off their masks and show their vulnerability to the world, they create deeper and better connections between team members. We have seen this at numerous Fuckup Nights, where CEOs and managers show their true selves and stop covering.... for at least for 7 minutes and 10 images.
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Let's transform our perception of failure and use it as a catalyst for growth.
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