I recently had a conversation with a young woman who felt that she might not be authentic because while she was a Type A personality, she was also somewhat shy. I understood how she felt…both of us are Asian females, which I think has something to do with it.

Growing up, I was a shy kid. And that was ok in my household, because when you are Korean, you are expected to be humble, obedient, brilliant, and a credit to your parents. You are expected to be quiet.

But when you come to the workplace, you’re expected to speak up, put forward your point of view…in essence, do the exact opposite of what you learned as a child.

Here’s the thing: if something holds you back from a performance perspective, you have to improve it. It doesn’t matter if it’s part of your culture or upbringing. If it stops you from performing as well as you could, you need to adapt.  You have to learn how to overcome the fact that you’re an introvert if it gets in the way of how you perform. Adapting your behavior doesn’t make you fake, it makes you adaptable.

No excuses.