'Bring your whole self to work' is bad advice, Ivy League psychologist says—here's why

If someone tells you to “bring your whole self to work,” don’t listen, says psychologist Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic.

Like many other workplace platitudes, the intention of the phrase is “truly positive, even if naive,” according to Chamorro-Premuzic, a professor of business psychology at Columbia University.

“It’s an attempt to tell particularly individuals that are part of the outgroup that they should not feel any pressure to conform to the norm,” he tells CNBC Make It, adding that it’s “an invitation to feel free to express themselves.”

People tend to be more engaged and satisfied when they feel that they can bring “more dimensions of themselves,” if not their entire selves, to work, Chamorro-Premuzic says.

Still, he wouldn’t recommend that employees take “bring your whole self to work” too literally.