Perhaps it is the emotion that people find most complicated, and prefer to ignore: shame. According to Prof. Dr. Aukje Nauta, shame is the queen of emotions. She sees shame as a source of opportunities and possibilities. How this works, and why we should talk more about shame, you can hear today in the Werkprofessor podcast.
Organisational psychologist Aukje Nauta has been appointed extraordinary professor 'Enhancing individuals in a dynamic work context' at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Leiden University as of 1 January 2018. The appointment was made by the inter-university vocational school Sioo for a period of five years.
Aukje obtained her PhD in conflict management in organisational psychology from the University of Groningen in 1996. She worked as post-doc and associate professor at the Faculty of Management and Organisation of the University of Groningen from 1997-2002. She was a senior researcher and consultant at TNO from 2002-2007. From 2011-2015 she was an endowed professor for the Dutch Foundation for Psychotechnology NSvP chair at the University of Amsterdam.
From 2012-2016 Nauta was a crown member of the Social and Economic Council (SER). Since 2010, as partner and advisor of 'Factor Five Organisational Development', she supports organisations with action research and advice on working relationships, employability and conflict management.
A social emotion
The most important message Aukje wants to pass on is that you should not be ashamed of shame. According to her, we should cherish the emotion of shame much, much more. "Behind shame lies so much beauty. Namely the desire to want to be good to the people around you. If you do not have that desire, it actually means that you do not care whether or not you mean something to someone else. You are then completely self-centred in life. Shame is a social emotion. You feel it especially when you fall short in relation to other people. So if you don't have that emotion, then you are almost unscrupulous or emotionless," says Aukje.
Shame in the workplace
Bringing emotion to the workplace, where does it help us to show more shame? Aukje explains that shame helps us with creativity and innovation. Research has shown that when you share shameful anecdotes before a brainstorming session, you feel much freer afterwards and dare to share more ideas.
But that is not all! Showing shame in the workplace also helps with learning and development. If you say 'I know everything already' all the time, you won't be able to learn. Be honest when you don't know something. Just then you can learn much more.
Wondering what else you can learn from Aukje? Listen to the new episode of the Work Professor.
Links
More about Aukje Nauta
The book 'Never pretend again
Listen here to the previous podcast with Aukje Nauta
More about the Working Professor
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