The Joy of Awkward

Description

Nowadays we are often told to let our guard down at work, yet the idea that professional means perfect is stubbornly persistent.

 

So, we zip ourselves into Emotional Hazmat Suits, wasting our energy on maintaining a flawless corporate avatar.

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In The Joy of Awkward, award winning author and organisational psychologist Becky Westwood reveals the crucial, career-saving distinction between vulnerability (exposing your personal wounds) and humanness (exposing your operational reality).

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Whether you are a leader struggling to connect, a high-achiever suffocating under the pressure of perfection, or a manager trying to build a team that can be real with each other, this book is your blueprint.

 

Inside, you will learn how to:

• Identify your Humanness Profile: Discover how you secretly protect yourself at work and how to reclaim the energy you spend faking it.

• Navigate the Internal Smoke Alarm: Understand the neuroscience behind why your brain panics when you admit friction, so you can survive the ten seconds of awkwardness it takes to be truly seen.

• Test the Waters: Safely lower your guard and run micro-experiments to build deep trust in imperfect situations.

• Measure What Matters: Equip your organisation with the tools needed to systematically reward truth over performative perfection.

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It’s time to reclaim the profound, messy energy of your true self and embrace authenticity. Because the real you is, and always has been, enough.

Becky Westwood is the CEO of Monkey Puzzle Training and Consultancy and an organisational psychologist with more than 18 years’ experience of training and leadership coaching. She holds an MSc in psychology, and as a qualified trainer and coach, has applied her expertise in a variety of industries across the UK, US and Europe.

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Her career started with in-house training roles in the retail and aerospace sectors before setting up her own training and coaching consultancy in 2016 where she began to specialise in working with individuals with social anxiety. In 2021, Becky joined Monkey Puzzle Training and Consultancy as Chief Experience Officer, eventually becoming its CEO in 2026.