Authentic Leadership: Why Being Your Real Self Makes You More Effective (Not Less)
- linnearader
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
Politics are especially non-authentic. Nobody knows who anyone really is when politics comes into play.
I've watched it happen over and over in workplaces. Someone gets involved in organizational politics and suddenly you don't recognize them anymore. They're saying things they don't believe. They're aligning with positions that don't match their values. They're presenting a version of themselves that's been carefully calculated for maximum advantage.
And you know what happens? When politics enters the workplace, trust exits.
Because people can tell. They always can. No matter how polished the performance, people sense when their leader isn't being real. And once they sense it, everything that leader says gets filtered through that lens of skepticism.
That's why authenticity isn't just a nice to have quality in leadership. It's essential. Not because being real makes you likable, though it might, but because leading as your actual self is the only way to build the kind of trust and credibility that makes everything else possible.
When You're Trying to Be Someone You're Not
"I was working so hard to be the kind of leader I thought I should be that I lost track of who I actually was."
Early in my career, I thought I had to think like my bosses.
They're great people. Really great leaders. But they aren't me. And trying to lead the way they led wasn't authentic for me.
I was copying their approaches, using their phrases, trying to handle situations the way I thought they would. I was working so hard to be the kind of leader I thought I should be that I lost track of who I actually was.
It didn't work. Not because their approach was wrong. Because it wasn't mine.
Once I really realized it was okay for me to be me, I was able to uncover who I really was as a leader. Not a copy of someone else. Not a carefully constructed persona. Just me, leading in a way that felt natural and true.
That shift changed everything.
What Authenticity Actually Means
Here's what authenticity doesn't mean: saying whatever you think whenever you think it.
Authentic means real while being professional. Unfiltered is letting it all go and divulging every detail regardless of its professionalism.
The difference matters.
I often have situations where employees come to me with major issues. Divorce. Family problems. Financial crises. Death. Mental health struggles. These are big deals. Big situations that affect people's ability to function at work and in life.
I authentically care about them. I want them to get the help they need. I want them to be able to handle what they're going through.
But I also have to make sure the workplace is safe and secure for everyone. This doesn't mean I'm being inauthentic with the employee having problems. It means my filter is that if I know there's a concern that could affect the workplace or other individuals, I have to handle things differently.
I can be genuinely compassionate while also being responsible for workplace safety. I can care deeply about someone's personal struggles while also maintaining professional boundaries. That's not fake. That's authentic leadership with appropriate filters.
When Being Unfiltered Backfires
I used to be the person in charge of social media at my workplace. One of the greatest days of my career was handing that responsibility to someone else.
To put together updates and informational posts, I had to gather information from others. There were times when the people I needed to ask questions of didn't want to share information for whatever reason.
Instead of walking away and re-approaching the subject with a different approach, instead of explaining my need in a different way or asking what the concern might be, I let my frustration show. I can remember at least one specific instance where what we can call a heated discussion broke out.
I didn't get the information I needed. Our work relationship was bruised. Nothing positive occurred.
That was authentic in the worst way. Those were my real emotions, unfiltered and unmanaged. But authenticity without professionalism isn't leadership. It's just venting with an audience.
I learned that being authentically frustrated doesn't mean showing all your frustration. It means acknowledging it to yourself, managing your response, and handling the situation in a way that's both true to who you are and effective at solving the problem.
What Makes You Different
"Those approaches aren't wrong. They're just not me."
My directness absolutely makes me different from other leaders.
I try to be direct very professionally, but I do not beat around bushes or walk on eggshells. If a conversation needs to happen, I'll have it. If a decision needs to be made, I'll make it.
It doesn't mean I enjoy upsetting people or enjoy discipline. I don't. But I also don't shy away from necessary conversations.
That directness is authentically me. Some leaders are more diplomatic. Some are more collaborative in their approach. Some spend more time building consensus before moving forward.
Those approaches aren't wrong. They're just not me.
For years, I thought I should be more like those other leaders. More diplomatic. More gentle in my approach. But when I tried to soften my directness, I didn't come across as kind. I came across as unclear. People didn't know what I actually meant or what I really wanted.
My directness, delivered professionally, is more effective than trying to be someone I'm not.
When Authentic Leadership Solves the Problem
"The real issues would have stayed hidden. And the performance problems would have continued."
Recently, I was working with an employee who was having some performance issues.
Instead of jumping to conclusions about their actions, I was direct. I asked questions. And I genuinely cared about the responses.
Through that conversation, I found out the employee has some challenges they're dealing with that aren't publicly known. Personal situations that were affecting their work.
Because I approached the conversation authentically, caring about them as a person and not just as an employee with performance issues, they opened up. And we were able to connect them with resources through our Employee Assistance Program that could actually help.
The EAP offered far more services than just counseling. Services that could make a real difference for this person's specific situations.
A more polished, more corporate approach probably would have missed that. The employee would have stayed guarded. The real issues would have stayed hidden. And the performance problems would have continued.
That's the power of authentic leadership. When people believe you actually care, when they trust that you're being real with them, they're more likely to be real with you. And that opens up possibilities that a perfectly professional but ultimately fake interaction never could.
What You Hold Back
Being authentic doesn't mean sharing everything.
I hold back personal details. I hold back identities in investigations. I hold back when there are personal concerns that aren't mine to share.
But here's the key: I say what I'm holding back.
For instance, I would say, 'Here is the situation. I can't tell you anything more than that as it would be betraying the confidence of the person that shared it with me.'
That's still authentic. I'm being real about the limitations. I'm not pretending I don't know more. I'm not making up reasons for withholding information. I'm just being honest about the boundary.
People respect that. They might not always like it. They might wish I could tell them more. But they trust that when I do share something, it's real. And they trust that when I hold something back, there's a legitimate reason.
The First Authentic Move
It's hard to pinpoint exactly when I stopped copying other leaders and started being myself. It was more than 15 years ago, and the shift wasn't dramatic. It was gradual.
But I think one of the first authentically me leadership moves was holding off on making decisions until after having the conversation.
I still make assumptions sometimes. It's impossible not to in certain situations. But I stopped walking into conversations with my mind already made up about what was happening and what needed to be done.
That openness, that willingness to actually listen and potentially be wrong about my initial assessment, that's authentically me. I'm not pretending to have all the answers before I hear the full story. I'm genuinely open to what I might learn.
And that approach has served me far better than trying to project an image of having everything figured out all the time.
Why Authenticity Matters More Than Polish
"Authentic leadership isn't about being perfect. It's about being real."
You can be the most polished, professional, put together leader in the room. You can say all the right things in all the right ways.
But if people sense you're not being real, if they feel like you're performing rather than connecting, they won't trust you. And without trust, your polish doesn't matter.
Authentic leadership isn't about being perfect. It's about being real. It's about leading in a way that's true to who you actually are while maintaining the professionalism and boundaries that effective leadership requires.
It means being direct if that's who you are. Being collaborative if that's your strength. Being analytical if that's how you think. Whatever your natural approach is, lean into it. Develop it. Make it work within professional boundaries.
But don't try to be someone you're not. Because your team will sense it. And once they do, you've lost something that's incredibly hard to get back.
The most effective leaders I know aren't the ones who have the most polished personas. They're the ones who show up as themselves, consistently, even when it would be easier to hide behind a professional mask.
That's authentic leadership. And it works.
Next in the series: Emotional Intelligence - Reading Yourself and the Room
As always, carry social kindness with you everywhere you go. The world needs you and your positive mindset!
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