I met with my marketing consultant recently (who is such a gem of a human being I call him “My Guy Nick”) and asked how one of his product launches was going.
What I got was a professional yet unvarnished answer about what was working well and what could be different. It was so refreshing!
Had he given me a pat answer that everything was fabulous, I wouldn’t have held it against him. I am his client, after all, and conventional wisdom would say, “Don’t air your dirty laundry.”
Instead, his authenticity paved the way for a mutually beneficial conversation.
Too often, people are looking to save face and not show any kinks in the armor. I would know. I did this for a long time. And I got better results when I started to share more of my humanness.
This can be harder in organizations where it may not be culturally appropriate or psychologically safe to do so – where saying “I don’t know.” can feel like the kiss of death.
But I’m perpetually optimistic that balance exists and allows people to be more transparent and true to themselves without committing career suicide in the process.
Here are three ways to lean into your authenticity:
- Connect to your values – Values act as great guardrails. If you know what you stand for it’s much easier to show up authentically. “My Guy Nick” is clear on his values and it is consistently reflected in my interactions with him. He doesn’t make excuses for who he is or what’s important to him.
- Get comfortable being imperfect – Spoiler alert: Perfection doesn’t exist. Lead with your fabulous and perfectly imperfect self instead. Nick is willing to share not only what’s worked for him, but his failures and lessons learned too. As a result, his guidance is more valuable to me and I’m learning more.
- Look for the nuance – Different situations call for varying levels of disclosure. Nick didn’t tell me all the ins and outs of his product launch. What he shared was a fittingly nuanced overview of his product launch, given the business nature of our relationship.
What opportunities do you have to show up more authentically?
