The Power of Authenticity in Leadership

Why keep it real with your team- the people you lead?

There are just two ways to lead your people:

• by telling them the truth
• by letting them find the truth on their own

And both come with their own consequences.

Let’s start with the first one – telling the truth:

• you earn trust and credibility – not just with your team, but with yourself; helps you sleep better at night.
• you empower better decisions – even if some of them create short-term discomfort.
• you receive the truth in return – often uncomfortable but always essential for your growth.
• you build a culture of integrity – charity begins at home so does culture.
• you make people feel safe – and safe people show up fully, every day.

And the most important – it’s easy.

How about the second – withholding the truth?

• you lose trust as people see through it and there’s no damage control.
• you might win short-term, but you’re building on a shaky foundation.
• you stay blind to your areas of improvement.
• you create a culture you never aspired for.
• you run the most expensive employee engagement activity – the guessing game.

Lincoln said, “You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”

And that group of people you can’t fool?

It’s your team – the people you spend more of your waking hours with at work than with your partner at home.