A New Path to Influence
We’ve all experienced moments where we have felt uncomfortable showing up. Maybe you’ve spoken up, shared an idea or asked a question, and in that moment, you have felt the energy change. Someone raises an eyebrow, another may make a joke about you being intense. The message lands quietly but clearly… you are weird!
Reading this, many readers may have been remembering a workplace incident. Make no mistake, this is also experienced within families, friends, and community groups. Wherever people gather, group norms arrive unannounced. If you step outside of the unspoken norms, you risk being labelled as weird.
Life has taught me that being called weird is not the problem. Being called weird is confirmation that something real is happening; raw thinking, different perspectives, unfiltered insights. The very things that contribute to Authentic Visibility.
Authentic Visibility begins with Your Weird Wisdom
Every person has a way of seeing the world that no one else has. It comes from their personal experiences, the meanings they make, beliefs, values and missteps. I call this Weird Wisdom. Not weird as in strange, out of place or rebellious. Weird as derived from Wyrd meaning One’s Destiny. And I believe it is only Wisdom if you use it and share it.
As girls and young women, we were taught what behaviours were considered necessary to be accepted; by parents, families, and friends. We noticed what traits were praised and which got corrected or in my case got me detention. Which thoughts were welcomed and which got us excluded from that group of friends.
Over time we learned to edit our Weird and slowly became experts at adjusting to other people’s comfort levels. We became easier to manage and easier to agree with. In the process many women shelved their Weird. They traded authenticity for approval without realizing the cost of conformity.
Authentic Visibility starts when you decide your Weird Wisdom is not something to hide. It’s something to share.
When women share their real perspectives, conversations deepen. You may notice problems and conflicts being solved faster. You question assumptions and possibilities begin to appear. This is the practical impact of embracing your Weird Wisdom.
Weird Wisdom is not about drawing attention to yourself. It is not an excuse to be brutally honest or mean. Weird Wisdom encourages you to stop fitting in to conform and to begin contributing your perspectives to the conversations.
Authentic Visibility is Available to Every Woman
Weird Wisdom does not belong only to the leaders in workplaces, families, friends, or community groups. We all have our own Weird Wisdom. Weird Wisdom belongs to the woman who asks a thoughtful question in a meeting.
It belongs to the mother who trusts her instincts when others disagree. It belongs to the student who sees a different way to approach a problem. It belongs to the friend who names what everyone else has been sensing.
You don’t have to be loud to embrace your Weird Wisdom (introverts please breathe out). Quiet thinkers can have a powerful presence. Observant people often notice what others miss. Reflective minds may connect ideas in ways that challenge previous methods.
Authentic Visibility builds confidence from the inside out
Confidence is an inside job, but not in the way we usually think about it. I was taught that confidence was something you must feel before you act. Experience has taught me that often, it works in reverse. Confidence grows when you trust yourself just enough to contribute as you are.
1. Action Step: Each time you share an idea, a perspective, follow an instinct, you gather evidence your Weird Wisdom has value.
And you don’t need a personality transplant to embrace your Weird Wisdom. You need to stop editing, filtering out that part of you with a different perspective. Difference is not an obstacle. Difference is your contribution.
Reading this you might be thinking, ‘yeah sure. Easier said than done’. It sure is. Think of Weird Wisdom as a muscle you have not exercised in years. If you go hard straight off the bat it is going to hurt. If you don’t warm up, stretch and strengthen your Weird Wisdom muscle you’re likely to do yourself an injury.
2. Action Step: To strengthen your Weird Wisdom you can start small, start real, just start.
– Share a thought you would normally keep to yourself.
– Ask a question you suspect others are wondering about.
– Offer your perspective before you overthink it.
Notice what happens. How do you feel? Where do you feel it? Modify your training techniques as required, increase repetitions slowly. Before you know it, your Weird Wisdom muscle will be visible.
Women have been taught, directly and indirectly, that fitting in is better than showing up authentically. Yet the challenges we face in our lives do not need more of the same. We need more perspectives, more curiosity, more diverse thoughts. More women who trust their Weird Wisdom enough to let it be seen.
Weird Wisdom is not a weekend makeover. It’s not about returning to who you were before you were taught to shrink to make others more comfortable. Weird Wisdom is a re-alignment. It’s where you bring together all your authentic experiences, perspectives, contradictions, and mistakes to make them visible.
Name: Trish Goodfield
Professional Title: Founder & Principal Consultant
Bio: Trish Goodfield is a Speaker, Trainer, and Author of Weird Wisdom at Work. Trish works with leaders, teams, and whole organisations to bring diversity of thought to the forefront. Not just as a value, but as a practical lever for better thinking, better outcomes, and less daily friction.
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