What does it mean to be authentic?
Some people think being authentic means showing up the same way in every situation, because they see people who change their approach as being like sleazy used-car salesmen who say whatever it takes to close the deal.
I think being authentic is more about the core values being expressed, even if the form in which they are expressed varies from situation to situation. I find it more effective to speak to people in terms of what they care about, and using language they understand.
When I was a chief of staff, I would speak:
— to finance in terms of ROI and investment
— to sales in terms of customer success and quotas
— to engineers in terms of effectiveness and efficiency
— to leadership in terms of how it benefits the company strategy
Did that make me inauthentic? I was varying my approach to advance my agenda, and get people to do things. But I was transparent about what I was trying to make happen and why it was important. I felt I was being authentically me in those interactions, even though I was flexing my approach to match my audience.
Let’s take the opposite scenario. When somebody is trying to persuade me to do something, and they just repeat their approach over and over even though it’s not working, I think they’re being ineffective, and not showing me the respect to consider what matters to me.
So what’s the right balance between authenticity and effectiveness? I’m curious what you think!
#authenticity #effectiveness #influence