The Problem With Authenticity

The late literary critic Lionel Trilling wrote that the virtue of simple sincerity had become devalued by a modern compulsion to be authentic, which seems to denote “a more strenuous moral experience” ( Sincerity and Authenticity, Boston, Harvard University Press, 1972). Authenticity’s popularity has indeed spread like a virus in all aspects of society but especially in business and politics. The ability to master this art of “just being yourself” has become a hot commodity.

And therein lies the problem. What began as a call for authentic self-expression in many ways became masterful strategizing to appear authentic. Politicians don plaid flannel shirts and employ just-an-average-guy rhetoric, and wealthy business owners drive Ford trucks to work, leaving their Porsches in the garage—attempts to present a just-folks authenticity. And while everyone has been trying to epitomize authenticity and give the illusion that what you see is what you get, society has sniffed out some fakes. In the wake of political and corporate scandals, we have become more discerning than ever and more capable of spotting engineered authenticity.

Those who have been caught up in appearances have in some ways muddied the water that holds the argument for authenticity in the first place. Authenticity is no more a congeniality contest than it is justification for authentic jerks to remain so. “Sorry, that’s just the way I am.”

From an organizational standpoint, authenticity —the congruence of our inner and outer selves—is about increasing trust, improving relationships, and solidifying values that hopefully create a meaningful context in which to do business.

Leaders who keep in mind the spirit of authenticity while working hard to create meaningful connections with their followers, demonstrating sincerity of being, and revealing personal information that adds value to the context of work will be practicing an important part of leadership transparency that builds credibility. Doing so, however, requires a certain level of maturity and self-awareness and a heightened sense of how people might perceive, dissect, and disseminate the information that you reveal. And because authenticity or personal transparency ultimately describes the quality of a relationship (one cannot be transparent unless one has someone to be transparent to), leaders must create opportunities in which to engage with their followers, allowing them to know their leaders.