How do you feel about the HSP “label”? Does it help? Does it hinder? How important/helpful do you find it to be known as a highly sensitive person / high-sensation-seeking highly sensitive person and any other iteration of the HSP range?
I’ve been reflecting on this since listening to an inspirational podcast interview with Dr Tracy Cooper PhD – author of Thrive! The Highly Sensitive Person and Career and Thrill! The High Sensation Seeking Highly Sensitive Person. I’ll put the podcast link below.
The discussion covered multiple topics which held my interest throughout although my attention perked up another level when the talk turned to HSPs and HSS-HSPs at work ..
Workplace settings can be so toxic and uncomfortable for many (if not all) HSPs and, with this is mind, I’ve wished that high sensitivity could be held under the same umbrella as other neurodiverse conditions even though high sensitivity is a neutral personality trait and neither a disability nor a disorder. It can feel like and be treated as such though and it seemed to me that aligning with other neurodiverse communities might be the only way for an HSP employee to access the “reasonable adjustments” and accommodations they might need in order to thrive.
But in this discussion came a novel idea that I wholeheartedly feel aligned with. I’ve always had a thing about square pegs in round holes and sometimes ask: “What did the square peg say to the round hole? ‘Ouch!‘ ”
What did the square peg say to the round hole? “Ouch!”
I’ve never been one for one-size-fits-all cookie cutter approaches or expecting everyone to contort themselves to fit a singular box or ideal. But that is too often what is expected in the workplace with business leaders then mystified when things don’t work out well … I’ve long thought much better to manage the environment to support the employee …
And here it came … in this discussion they spoke of urging employers and leaders to consider the needs of each employee – what will help each one to flourish? Boom! See each as a whole person with all sorts of qualities and needs – like plants in a garden or on a farm – each species needing the right conditions and climates etc in which to thrive. But with people at work, taken along another notch from species specific to individual specific …
With that comes the opportunity to allow the HSP label to dissolve and become redundant in this context. See the individual not the label … appreciate and accommodate the individual … and reap your reward.
Of course it does throw up some questions …
- How is this put into practice?
- Do you need a different workplace for every employee?
- Can it only work in practice if most employees work from home?
- How can the needs be met of those who cannot work from home?
- Does something get lots by letting go of the HSP / HSS-HSP labels?
Questions there may be but overall I was thrilled to see this topic get aired. I see it as a kind of unleashing – an opportunity for feelings of spaciousness and greater freedom.
What do you think? How do you feel? The labels – hindrance or help? I’d love to hear.
Here’s the podcast link. The Highly Sensitive Person with Dr Tracy Cooper (from Campion Consultants)