Dealing with Perfectionism

HBR IdeaCast

Harvard Business Review

Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Communication, Marketing, Business, Business/management, Management, Business/marketing, Business/entrepreneurship, Innovation, Hbr, Strategy, Economics, Finance, Teams, Harvard

4.4 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 7 January 2025

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

High standards, attention to detail, and self-control are invaluable qualities at work. They’re also aspects of perfectionism, something to which many high achievers credit much of their success. But Ellen Hendriksen, clinical psychologist at Boston University's Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, says being your own worst critic can also lead to constant dissatisfaction at work and alienation from coworkers. Her new book is How to Be Enough: Self-Acceptance for Self-Critics and Perfectionists. Drawing on her own research, clinical work, and personal experience as a perfectionist, she explains where perfectionism comes from and how it affects teams. Hendriksen shares how not to be so hard on yourself—while still keeping your high standards.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Got 30 minutes? Join Capital Group CEO Mike Gitlin for a new monthly edition of the Capital Ideas podcast, brought to you by Capital Group, and happy new year. I'm Kurt Nickish.
0:39.8	High standards, attention to detail, self-control.
0:44.4	These are qualities that lead to success in many fields, right?
0:48.7	Well, there are also aspects of perfectionism.
0:52.3	If we're being really honest, many of us take pride in our perfectionistic
0:56.9	qualities. After all, they probably have helped us excel in school and in our jobs. Our guest today
1:03.6	says perfectionism can work for some of us some of the time, but it can also cause a lot of mental
1:09.4	and physical harm for us in the longer run.
1:12.6	Ellen Hendrickson is a clinical psychologist at Boston University Center for Anxiety and
1:17.9	Related Disorders. Her new book is How to Be Enough, Self-Exceptance for Self- Critics and
1:23.7	Perfectionists. Her research, clinical, and personal experience will help us understand where
1:29.5	perfectionism comes from and how it can affect our work and lives. She'll also explain how we can shape
1:35.6	these learned behaviors to find healthier and more sustainable ways to live and work. Ellen,
1:41.9	thank you for joining me. Thank you so much for having me.
1:44.2	I'm delighted to be here.
1:48.1	I want to start by asking you what drew you to write an entire book about perfectionism.
1:54.5	And did you also know that it would never be done by doing so?
1:58.0	Exactly.
1:58.8	So there are two reasons I wrote the book.
2:02.5	And one, I have to admit,
2:08.8	is personal. I wrote this for me. If my previous book about social anxiety was the book I needed 20, 25 years ago as a college student or young adult, this is the book I need now.
2:15.2	You're probably not the only one in this. Probably not the only one, I'm guessing.
	...

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