The Business Case for Authenticity Part 2

Suzanne Mercier - Friday, February 26, 2010

When I talk about authenticity, I talk of 3 principles that are involved.  I covered the first one in the The Business Case for Authenticity Part 1: being real and accepting our qualities and flaws, without judgement.  I also talked about perspective being the key differentiator between whether something is a quality or a flaw.

In this blog, I want to address the next principle involved in authenticity: knowing yourself and acting with integrity.  

Lao Tse famously said:  It is wisdom to know others; It is enlightenment to know one's self.  How easy is it to look at other people, what they do and how they do it, while making assumptions about their motivation!  It’s so much more difficult to see ourselves clearly.

In fact, that is one of the challenges of feeling like an imposter.  We have a totally distorted self-view because we tell ourselves that we’re not good enough and that if others really could see us, they would know we’re not as intelligent or capable as they think.  Often this feeling comes from not recognising that we have gifts and talents - we think that if we can do something, then it can’t be rocket science and therefore it’s not special.

When we truly know ourselves, what we value, where we place our priorities, what we will do and what we won't, it makes decision-making so much easier.  We develop an internal compass; our own true north.   On the occasions we don’t follow our internal compass, we experience feedback by way of misgivings or some other attention-getting feeling.   On the other hand, when we make decisions that follow our internal compass over and over again, we develop character and self-respect.

People get a sense of solidity and groundedness from their experience of us.  They recognise the alignment - what you see is what you get.  They sense consistency, and trust starts to build.  Trust is the foundation of solid relationships at whatever level we conduct them.  

Bringing this specifically back to the business environment, trust is a large part of what is missing in our organisations today.  Over the past 5 - 10 years, we have learned of leaders in highly respected organisations who misappropriated funds, misled their public, treated staff poorly and so on.

Leadership emerges within organisations at any level when an individual comes forward with a sense of Purpose, a Vision, strong values and the courage of his or her convictions.  Their passion and integrity are inviting.  People want to be around them; to follow them.  In other words, these leaders have discovered their true north - their internal compass - and they live by it.  They know what brings their lives meaning and fulfillment.  They have a unique contribution to make in the work space.  

That sounds to me a lot like highly engaged and engaging leaders who have something to offer and who inspire others around them into action.  If that isn’t important to business, then what is?

What do you think?  I’d love to hear.
All the very best
Suzanne