Be You, Be Authentic

Authenticity is a popular buzz word among today’s leadership circles.  And, rightfully so.  It is not only a relevant topic but a necessary one particularly in today’s ever-changing, fast-paced world of Internet and social media platforms.  For the most part, we are all hidden behind our Facebook profiles and Twitter handles and yet connected to hundreds, even thousands of other people.  We can post or tweet anything and you would never know what our real life is like unless you have a personal connection to us.  So, how can we trust anything that each of us posts?

For that reason, and many others, authenticity is a major concern for leaders.  But, what does it mean to be authentic?  Authenticity is simply a quality of being authentic or genuine.  It is your ability to be real, to be you online or offline.  It is your true you in the toughest of situations and in the easiest.  It is being you at all times.

“Authenticity is the alignment of head, mouth, heart, and feet – thinking, saying, feeling, and doing the same thing – consistently. This builds trust, and followers love leaders they can trust.” –Lance Secretan

Who are you?

Be you, be authentic.  It is important for you to know yourself and to understand who you are.  If this is not known then, you are more likely to present a false image of who or what you want to be and that image may not always be communicated correctly or consistently.  As a result, others will define you for themselves and depending on their connection or closeness to you, they may even define you to you.

Thus, regardless of who you want to be, just be you.  Allow yourself to be consistent with you are.  It is only from that vantage point that you can grow into who you are meant to become.