Everyone says being authentic is the key to business growth – but what does ‘being authentic’ even mean?
Being authentic is the key ingredient to entrepreneurial success.
Authenticity is crucial for business success.
This is what we’re being told by a lot of business gurus and business coaches – particularly males from the USA.
But what do they even mean???
What if you can’t truly be yourself, because it’s not acceptable in your industry? What if, in a particular industry, clients expect certain things from you, and if you don’t present that way then they don’t find you credible?
I have struggled with this concept for years, as the owner of a legal firm. I have also spoken with other female lawyers, and they struggle to be authentic in the legal industry, because we have been shaped to be a particular way. We don’t feel like we can be authentic and still get ahead. We need to toe the line. We need to play the game.
I have felt for a long time that I have lost my true self. I felt that I didn’t know who I was anymore, and what I really wanted. This was my crisis. It’s taken a few years, writing posts on this blog, and other ways of searching myself to start to find some self-love.
When all these American men talk about being authentic, they are really talking about putting on an ego shell that people will like. They don’t really think that being authentic is going to make you succeed in business, if you are an angry asshole. They just want you to behave like other people, yet again – to pretend to be someone or something else. But now, it seems that they just want you to show a bit more of your personal life. But even this is artificial.
So many posts on Facebook and Instagram are people showing their best selves. They are not being authentic. They are creating a personal brand.
This is what it come down to: ‘being authentic’ is creating a personal brand that is consistent, but not necessarily real or true to yourself!
They don’t mean to be truly authentic!
But that doesn’t sit well with me. So I’m now on a mission to discover what it means to be truly authentic.