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Hello, and welcome to Bizz Your Work Life Sorted. I'm m Vernon and today we're diving into something that's probably made you fear for your life as well as intrigued you at the same time. It's the concept of being a personality higher. So the personality higher is someone who seems to make everything way more fun that the person who somehow manages to have the senior leaders wrapped around their little finger, and that the person in the office
that everyone wants to have afterwork drinks with. So, whether you are that person, or you're secretly wanted to be that person, or you know this person, this episode is going to challenge how you think about personality at work. Our career coaches are Michelle Battersbee, who founded Sunroom, and Sophrst, who runs her own coaching business, Work Baby, and they're breaking down the real tension between vibes and product activity.
God, this is going to piss some people off, but I'm gonna say it, personality hires are arguably more important than people that do actual work. Let me explain, let me explain.
Let's explain.
Anyone can do work. Anyone can be a good employee. Anyone can go and then send an email. Anyone can do that. It takes a specific type of person to keep the company culture fun and like funny and keep the office like in good spirits. And that's where we come in. That's where personality hires come in, because I solely got my corporate job from having a good personality.
Okay, so you just heard from TikTok creator Daniel Bennett, who's obviously the personality higher and he has a very interesting argument about the role this type of person plays at work, and that's part of what we're going to get into today. But first, what is a personality higher and is it actually a good or a bad thing? So right now I could genuinely go both ways on this and I'm a little bit confused. So Michelle, can you break this down trus What is it?
Yeah?
So, a personality high is someone who's typically hired for their vibe, charisma, enthusiasm, social skills, or their humor over qualifications and technical abilities. So those skills that they do have can still be amazing in the workplace. They can make the workplace very positive and just a fun and happy place to be. I do want to emphasize that just because they're hired for those softer skills, let's say
that doesn't mean that they're not competent. And I think that sometimes the discourse on social media around personality highs has meant that they don't really have real jobs, and it's questioned what they actually do. But personality HighRes can often be the people that go into leadership roles because they are really good at communicating and they have great adaptability.
Interesting. I think there's so much in this because I originally stuck when I saw that video. I remember thinking, oh, like, I sort of want to be the personality higher. I remember people at work who were so funny in meetings and charismatic, and it's like they always had the ear of the senior leaders. They just had this like gravitas almost, and I was like, I want to be the personality higher.
And then I started reading some of the comments, and a lot of people were saying like, no, this is the person in your university working group who is really fun to hang out with but then never actually does their part of the project. And I was like, oh, okay, so it's actually bad, Like these people aren't actually doing the work. But I think it's just an interesting point
that you raise around. It's not that they're not competent, it's just that maybe they're some of those skills in terms of like how they communicate their presence at work. Maybe that's kind of like elevating them to these more senior levels. I think there's a lot in it, though.
And I think you make really good points because sometimes a personality higher might have been hired and there is a bit of a skills gap, but a hiring manager believes that they can train that person up. There's growth, there's potential there, and so I think for some personality hires, there will be a bit of a steep learning curve once they enter the workplace and they'll have to work
on that. And in today's world in particular, you're not going to survive in the workplace if you're not delivering. So I think someone who is a personality higher who then isn't actually contributing to the organization in their role
and reaching their KPIs they're not going to survive. But the same can be said for people at the complete other end of the spectrum as well, Like if you've got personality hires over on the left, and you've got an ace, all star, technically brilliant person over on the right. But maybe they've got a bit of a bad attitude sometimes, maybe they have a bit of a negative demeanor. They still reach their KPIs, but they're not actually that pleasant
to be around. I think that kind of employee could also see their growth and career advancements be stifled because.
It's not just you as an individual delivering your individual piece of work. It's actually like an organization is a big collection of people, and it's actually part of your job to help the whole collection of people also be good at their job. It's not just about your little piece. Okay, So you also went out on your DMS Michelle, What did you get back from the poll that you put up?
Yeah, so one of my socials because I was just curious, like how many people actually consider themselves to be personality highers? I mean that could be a completely different conversation, like are their people out there that were hired because of their personality as opposed to technical skills? Do they even know? Anyway?
So I went out on my story and I asked, do you consider yourself a personality higher twenty eight percent said outright yes, forty percent said partially, and thirty two percent said no, So the majority of people believe that their personality played some part. And then I did ask them a question which was, if you answered yes or partially, how does your personality show up at work? Which I think we'll get into a bit later. And then I asked, if you answered no, do you want to bring more
of your personality to the workplace? And forty six percent of people said that they do want to bring their personality the work to the workplace. Others said I like to keep my personality a secret, and others said I don't feel safe to bring my personality to work, which I think is also something worthy of consideration.
Oh man, this is so interesting. Okay, so half people actually want to have more personality at work. The piece around feeling safe is really important too, So we'll get into some of these. It does remind me of a post it note that I had on my desk at work and it just said don't be boring, and that was sort of my reminder to myself, like, bring your personality to work. Okay, so this episode is more than
just another career trend. It is about personality and vibes and specifically how to make vibes at work so you're happier and your job is easier. There is some science behind why vibe is important, so you know. Also, the workplace is really changing. Whether you're a gen Z just starting out, or you're a millennial manager managing a team, or you're running a business, this episode's for you. Okay, Michelle,
I'm actually very interested to note. Do you consider yourself to be a personality higher?
Yes, I think I'm a personality higher. Can you be a personality higher in your own company that you found?
Why do you think you're a personality higher?
Like I've been given feedback along the way in my career that's led me to think I'm I can deliver technically in my area. But I also have been told that I bring like a positive attitude. I'm enthusiastic. I try to like lighten the mood in stressful situations and like remind everyone that this isn't life saving work that we're doing here.
Interesting, So yeah, I think where it was. So and then part of this episode is redefining what a personality higher actually is and it doesn't mean that you're not delivering and doing your job, all right. So I mean before starting this episode, I was a bit conflicted because I sort of wanted to be a personality higher, but I was also sort of judging them as being a bit of a joke. So you might be sitting there
thinking the same thing, but there is something deeper. So, Michelle, why is building rapport and vibes at work actually important?
I'm still just stuck on what you said, because I feel like you'd be part personality higher as well.
Do you feel like you would be? I feel like I wasn't funny enough to be a personality higher, so I was like, I'm not funny, and I had a lot of self doubt around that. I wanted to be the person in the room who was like bringing it, you know. So I never felt like I was a personality higher. But then I started thinking, well, I wasn't actually that good at marketing, so was I a personality high? And then I went down a shame spiral of imposter syndrome. So I'm not going to talk about that anymore.
You give fun vibes, though, like you bring fun energy to working hard, which I also think is what you know, bringing your personality to work can also look like so maybe that's also another way to think about it. Okay, So why this is important. I think there are many advantages to being a bit of a personality higher, the first one being it's a very competitive hiring market out there at the moment in particular, so being likable and showing how you aligned to a company's mission can really
put you ahead of other candidates. So I think it can help get you in the door. It also can help if you vibe with a hiring manager, you know, when you leave an important meeting and you know, I think that went well because we just clicked, We just gelled, like maybe there was some banter, there was some back and forth, maybe you connected on a personal level. I think that's also a big part to how this can be a bit of a superpower and why it's important
for people to develop. And a TikTok put this very well where they were talking about beers Riz and for anyone listening, if you don't know what rizzz. I didn't know what RIZ was until about a year ago, which I'm ashamed to say because I think I was still too late. But charisma is RIZ to gen Z's I can't even define it in the right way, which shows that I'm truly a millennial. But there was a TikTok talking all about biz riz.
The number one thing I think I got from two years at Mackenzie that helped me land a director level role at twenty three is literally this notion of developing bizriz. Bizriz is essentially a skill to make senior people, whether it's your clients or your leaders, to like you, to like working with you, to build a relationship, and to trust you with the work. Once you get someone to
like you, you essentially become an EPO baby. You get advantaged opportunities and access to new projects, new jobs so much.
And it really broke down how it helps you build rapport and build relationships with senior managers. And this is what I love about gen Z and their approach to the workforce. It just feels a little bit more casual and they're not really scared of hierarchy or traditional power roles in the way I think some of the older
generations were. And this TikTok goes on to remind people that your CEO or the head of your department is someone's dad, someone's uncle, brother, sister, mother, auntie, and they're going home and probably being paid out by the people around the table with them. And they live lives and have hobbies and have challenges. So being able to unearth some of that and remind yourself of that is a great way to also develop this in the workplace.
These really senior leaders were literally somebody's dad or uncle, and no matter how intimidating they seemed to sitting across from you in the boardroom, later that night, they would probably sit across the dinner table from their gen z kid who would literally be cringing at them for I don't know, doing something kind of silly. And then you realize, I don't know like Mike the CFO at this huge bank, just your middle school friend Sam's dad who would bring
watermelon to the soccer practice. And that mindset shift made it so much easier for me to be confident and to be able to talk to them as if they were also people, which obviously they are. No matter how senior the man, at the end of the day, they are still just someone's chuggy uncle.
You'll be fine. There's a healthy side to that in not putting these senior leaders on this huge pedestal and just realizing like, hey, everyone's kind of human. So what about the fact Michelle though, when it comes to stuff like building rapport and connecting with people at work, that it is easier for some people than it is for others. Like I know some people and a lot of young people that I talk to, they really struggle with this.
So is vibe something you're just born with or is it something that you can learn?
Yeah? I love this question because I feel like both of us have done some unlearning as we've researched this topic. And my unlearning was I did think it was the kind of thing you were just born with, like a bit of an X factor, those people that just have those contagious personalities where they're always on, always happy, always bubbly and positive. But there's an amazing TikTok from Hannah gets Hired that taught me a lot, and she shared
a stack. It was from a Princeton study and it showed that eighty two percent of how people perceive you comes down to one trait.
You know, those people that are just so contagious to be around. It feels like everybody likes them, they can do no wrong. You can actually like hack your way into being that person with just minor changes to the way that you.
Talk to other people.
So this characteristic that Princeton Research founds accounts for eighty two percent of how other people perceive you is called charisma. And what sets charisma apart from other personality traits is that you're not born with it. It's actually something that you can practice and grow and develop over time.
And she goes on to explain that you can kind of hack your way to being a bit more charismatic because charisma is made up of two things, those things being warmth and competence, and apparently most people over index on one or the other. So maybe you're really warm and bubbly but you don't command that respect, or perhaps you're really competent, but you're super blunt, straight shooting and you just come off like a bit of an asshole.
And what I also loved about this was the tips she gives to then dial up warmth or competence are really really simple, Like, these aren't groundbreaking things, and you
can literally just start doing this today. So if you feel like you're the sort of person that needs to dial up on the warmth, it's as simple as nodding along when someone's talking, offering a smile, leaning in, or if you're this sort of person who feels like you need to dial up competence, just speaking with a little bit more confidence, maybe slowing it down or speeding it up, whatever you think is more, you know, the thing that you're needing to work on, and speaking with down tones
as opposed to upward inflections. I think it well, I think I do the upward speaking. I putink I've done it just then. But yeah, I found it fascinating.
Yeah, I think it's really interesting that you do think it's something that you boorn me or you think it's really hard, but maybe there's some small changes that we can start to adopt. What else did you get from your DM's Michelle?
Okay, so one of the other questions that I asked in my DMS was how does your personality show up in the workplace? So I think some of these examples could be really good for just getting across how simple it may be. I'd say I have the skills, but vibe is executing regardless of it being in my skill set. With enthusiasm, I improve the workplace culture leading through tough client combos and supporting my team. Positivity, enthusiasm, and a
hunger to learn. I always share a smile. I boost the spirits of others by encouraging them, and I organize social events. Oh, this one's good. I'm really good at reading the room, and I understand what makes people tick, and I craft com accordingly. I always stay positive and up for the challenge. I'm happy to try things even if I'm not one hundred percent sure. I've been told my X factor is brightness and freshness in a very corporate and traditional environment.
Yeah, I think there's some really interesting stuff in that, Michelle, because it's like, yes, you can have some of these behaviors that make you come across as warm when you're talking to people, but it's actually way more than that, right, So a lot of the stuff I'm hearing coming through is things like, you know, the ability to stay positive when stuff gets hard, or this like freshness that you're bringing to work, thoughtfulness around how you're making other people
feel the impact you're having on other people. So we wanted to actually speak to a real life personality higher So we've spoken to someone who works on an actual Vibes team, and yes, that is real because it says so on LinkedIn that's coming up after this.
So did you know there are companies with whole department and dedicated to vibe. When I was at Bumble, we had a role that was called Curator of Vibes. The people that held that role genuinely were the vibs people. They kept things fresh, positive, bright. But I think it's important to recognize that you don't need to have dedicated roles or departments to have positive attitudes, personality, fun, camaraderie
existing in an organization. So so you got up with Sana from Camber, who's in the Vibe team aka Workplace Experiences.
Firstly, I think every company should have a vibe team, but until then, I think everybody can be their own vibe team. Really, it can be pretty overwhelming the thought of that, but I think it's important to just start small. I think the most iconic vibe people I've known in my life, and the most iconic personality highs if you will, are the people who who are genuine and come to work and want to make genuine connections with people. So I'd recommend start small. You know, creating a vibe doesn't
mean like planning huge events. It's about making people feel like connected and getting to know people, really ask real questions, celebrate people's wins, and just bring your personality to work. I think that's super key, like authenticity. Really just make work feel like human, you know, and the vibe will just naturally follow. Work is hard, work can be a little boring and monotonous, and I think bringing joy to your co workers live in just a little freaky weird
way is the cherry on top of the day. I find even when I'm being vibed, I feel like it puts a little pep in my steps and it makes me want to do a better job, Like I feel more enthusiastic essentially. So I think it's so important that everybody is their own workplaces. Vibe team just makes life more fun and interesting and weird.
It's quite a privileged position that a company is in to be able to hire an entire ViBe's team. But the things that I spoke about with her are relevant for anyone, whether you're an individual small business, So you know, you can take these principles. First of all, I just want to say she is such a vibe. So after the conversation, I was like this pumping the air and
she is just like giving energy, she's giving vibe. There's two really important things that came out of the conversation, and the first is around this idea of the personality higher is part of this anti fake movement that we're seeing, and this is really a longing that we all have to just be a bit more real at work, which is a bit over the fakeness, the like corporate speak and the bullshit of it all. And you know, I even think to some of the accounts that I love following.
One of them is the Aussie Corporate and the other is Corporate Sween. And if you don't know these accounts on TikTok and Instagram, we're going to put them in the show notes. They are very funny and it's just this like parody satire, taking the piece out of how we all act at work, and they are brilliant. But I think you know, the reason we love these meme accounts is we just have this craving to be a
bit more human and a bit more real. And I think people think the personality Higher is about being the loudest, it's the most extroverted, it's the funniest, but it's actually not. It's just about being the uest you, and it's about not being scared to be your real self and to just be a bit more genuine at work. That really shifted my kind of perception. And then the other thing that really came through, So yes, bring yourself to work and be real. But then also it's not just about
being the USU. It's about how you as an individual is bringing out the best in the collective. Right. So they have this thing in onboarding at Canvas. Part of their onboarding is how to vibe, and they have a line that says, when not the vibe, you're the vibe. Everyone has this in them and we all contribute to the vibe. It's about like, what are you doing to celebrate the uniqueness and awesomeness in everyone else that you
work with. If you take the flip side of that, it's like, what might you be doing that's actually dragging other people down in the way that you're kind of showing up and acting at work. And there's this expression there's two types of people at work. There's drains and there's radiators. And drains are the people that are like
taking the energy out of the room. And the radiators, the ones that like they're just like radiating warmth, reflecting back the best and bringing out the best in other people. You know, drains take and radiators give. I think about that so much in reflecting on my own work experiences, Like when stuff got really hard, it was almost this memurification of the experience we were all having that got
me through. So I think about the hardest projects where like stuff just gets dark sometimes everyone's working so hard, you're dealing with so many problems, and then someone will like say something in a meeting and then everyone starts, you know, repeating this little tagline, and then someone will take the effort to go and put her on a T shirt, and like, that's the stuff that actually gets you through, these shared experiences that are actually bringing us together.
She did tell a story that I loved as well, which is, you know, back to that point around, it's not just about being the most extroverted and the funniest. Shush said, there's a software engineer who's like very quiet, and you would not call him a personality higher on the surface, but he actually has like little in jokes with like one hundred different people. So he is going out of his way to like build these little micro connections with everyone he works with, and he is loved.
And I honestly worked with so many people like that in my workplaces. So it's not just about being the loudest, it's about how you're making other people feel. And we should all be contributing to work being a funner and more real place. So you might be.
Sitting there thinking what does this actually mean for me? How can I actually do this at work? So let's talk about some practical actions.
So I was thinking, there's sort of like two parts of this, right. There's you know, you yourself, be interesting and don't be scared to be yourself at work, and then there's also be interested in other people. So let's talk about the first one. So when I was chatting to Sanna from the Vibe team at Camber, she kept saying, just like, you know, celebrate your freak. We're all freaks. It's okay to be different. For me, that really is like, don't be scared to kind of bring your interests and
your stories to work and to be yourself. One interesting thing I think it's just worth calling out is something I hear a lot from managers, particularly managers of gen z is they're saying, yes, we love the authentic self, and please bring your authentic self to work. But there also is a level of professionalism where it's like, don't treat the workplace like it's your sharehouse. So I do just want to flag that and say it's not like we're saying turn up at work and act exactly how
you do with your mates at home. But I do think it's about, like, celebrate your interest. Don't be afraid to kind of talk about what you do outside of work that's interesting and unique about you. The other one that I think I probably have more tips on is around how you can kind of put effort into building connection with other people. So Sin, I really spoke about this idea of starting small. It's not about going and organizing some massive social event. It's actually first just taking
an interest in other people. And I would love to hear some of your tips on this too, Michelle. One thing that I really love to do was when I was doing things at work that made me feel uncomfortable or were a little bit hard. So say, for example, you presenting in a team meeting, or you know, you send out that big rap email to a really big
list of people. I would just recognize how that made me feel, and then when I saw other people also doing those things, I would actually put the effort into actually telling them if you thought they did a good job.
So like say someone presents in a team meeting, so often it will be like that was really good in our head, and we don't actually go and tell them, so they take the time to send the Slack message or have a chat with them after and say like I really like this thing that you just did, or you know, that was a great rap email that you just sent out. Another little tip is just like being
interested in people's lives. So you know, if someone's like I've got this really big client presentation coming up in a month and like I'm really worried about I'm really working towards it. I like putting people's little milestones in my calendar just to remind myself to check in and ask them like, hey, how did that go. I know that sounds a bit like over the top, but just do it for the special people that you want to build a connection with.
I've never actually done this, but I just saw this online from a founder that I really admire. Maggie sellers who will also put her account in the show notes. But she just gave some tips actually around how to build rapport, and I thought it was a good one. If you're having meetings with important people, after you finish the meeting, send yourself an email with the things that you discussed with them that really stood out, especially if
they're about their personal life. And then make the subject of the email their name. And then when you see them next, search in your inbox by their name. Remember the things that you discussed the last time you were with them, if it was a month ago, three months ago, and then bring those things up in the next meeting, and it just demonstrates that you actually were listening and cared and you enjoyed what they were talking about.
Ah, that's so smart. I've never heard that before. That would be so amazing. If you're someone who has works with a lot of clients and kind of exit on a partners as well, that's amazing. Don't miss an opportunity to mean things at work. So started a game of these gouplet you know again, it's just like back to those small things. Someone in their team was preparing for a marathon and they all recorded just like a funny little video of everyone running on a treadmill and saying
congratulations to this person. I mean, there's so many examples. I think creative agencies are so good at this. So it'd actually love to hear from some of the people listening about things that you guys have done. The last point I make is this ability to sometimes laugh at work, and to be able to laugh at yourself and to laugh at other people when they're funny. It just like bring some lightness to work because it is really hard, and we spend a lot of time at work. It's
really hard. It can be very serious. But let's sort of where we can try to bring some of that lightness and freshness to it so we know the hardest part of this is often the inspiration and the examples. So Michelle and I had an idea. We're going to be building the biz Vib's Library. This is going to be a free resource that is going to help to
inspire you and make your lives easier. If you are trying to bring more vibes to work, we want you to send us your dms to the biz Instagram account and tell us your examples that you've seen at work. So This is either examples that you've done yourself or things you've seen other people do to help bring vibes and personality to work. And we're going to send out this ViBe's library in our newsletter. If you're not subscribed to that, the link is in the show notes, so
make sure you're signed up. Michelle, kick us off with one of your own examples.
Sorry to toot my own horn, but at Sunroom, one of the things we did, and we have always had a small company, is we would get each member of our team to do a presentation on their life life and it was always the most wholesome, sweetest eye opening thing where each member of our team, over like a lunch period each week, would run us through a PowerPoint like where they grew up, their families, jobs, hobbies, where they've traveled, and it was such a nice way to
genuinely get to know people, especially in today's world where there's so much working from home. Some people might work from home one hundred percent of the time and so you're not getting those like coffee catch ups or water cooler chats. So I always loved this and people just surprised us. And it was this rolling activity that we would do. It was called like a life story presentation.
So I thought we could finish up. Michelle on a message that they got from Sana, the vibe expert at Canava. So I sort of asked her, you know, what would you like people to take away from this episode? And with so much brightness in her voice, she said, you know, we've all got it in us to change this. Life is hard. Work doesn't need to be so bad for the person who's sitting there who hates their job. I
want to inspire you. I want you to know, you know, hey, I am a freak and that's a good thing, and you know I can bring that to work. And she said to me, I want to empower everyone to be the personality Higher and I just thought it was so beautiful.
Love that so much.
The biggest takeaway from today's episode is that being a personality Higher isn't about being fake or shrinking responsibility, thank god, It's about combining authentic personality with real contribution. As we've learned, if all you bring other vibes, you won't last long in today's workplace. If you want more tips on bringing personality to work while maintaining productivity, make sure you check out our bez newsletter this week because we'll be sharing
our Vibes Library. It's a collection of real examples from real workplaces that showcase exactly how to strike that perfect balance. And don't forget to follow us on Instagram at bez by Mama Mia. We post so much on there and we'd have to hear your thoughts on personality highs and workplace culture. Please comment or send us a DM. Thank you so much for listening. I will see you on Thursday for Biz Inbox so we answer your biggest workplace
and career dilemmas. See ya. Mamma Maya acknowledges the traditional owners of land and waters that this podcast is recorded on