Hi {{first_name}},
My boss Helen pulled me aside one afternoon at Boots.
I was going nowhere.
Assistant Supply Manager, but barely holding it together.
Showing up half-wrecked from free parties. Calling in sick because I'd been organising illegal raves until 5am.
Living this glorious double life where I'd be in supply chain meetings by day and sound system setup by night.
She told me something I've never forgotten: "Play the game."
Not as criticism. As strategy.
She meant: understand the environment you're in and adapt to it. The corporate world has rules.
You can hate those rules, disagree with them, think they're ridiculous.
But if you want to operate effectively within that system, you need to understand how it works.
Turned out she was right.
Annoyingly right, actually - like when your mum tells you to wear a coat and then it rains.
I started playing the game.
Showed up on time. Stopped calling in sick.
Learned which battles mattered and which didn't.
Figured out how to navigate the corporate structure without losing my soul in the process.
That's when everything changed.
All because I learned to adapt to the context I was in.
I started winning innovation awards.
Got promoted.
Ran a first-of-its-kind project.
Turned into someone hundreds of people in that business knew as bright and helpful.
All because I learned to adapt to the context I was in.
Helen wasn't telling me to stop being myself. She was teaching me that different contexts require different versions of you.
The free party scene rewarded rebellion and authenticity.
Show up in a shirt and tie to an illegal warehouse rave, you're getting laughed at. The corporate world rewarded conformity and polish.
Show up to a board meeting in your best baggy jeans, same result. Neither was wrong. Just different games with different rules.
I see coaches struggle with this constantly.
They're told "just be yourself" and "authenticity is everything." Lovely advice. Completely useless without context.
Being yourself on a LinkedIn post requires different energy than being yourself on a discovery call.
Being yourself on a sales page requires different language than being yourself over coffee.
Your authentic self shows up everywhere, but the expression changes based on where you are and what you're trying to achieve.
The coaches who figure this out build sustainable businesses.
The ones who insist on being exactly the same in every context - same energy, same language, same approach - wonder why their message isn't landing.
It's like wearing your pyjamas to a wedding because "I'm just being authentic."
Technically true. Socially dense.
Helen taught me that authenticity isn't about refusing to adapt. It's about knowing which parts of you to emphasize based on where you are and what you're trying to achieve.
I left Boots eventually. Moved to Vietnam.
Built businesses where I could be more of myself more of the time. But I still play the game - I just chose a different game with rules I actually like.
The difference now is I'm choosing consciously instead of rebelling unconsciously.
Turns out that's where the real freedom is.
Who knew corporate Helen was secretly teaching me how to be free?
Probably Helen. She was annoyingly good at that.
Jack
