Authentic Leadership – is it really authentic?

I saw an ad, or an article, somewhere recently about “authentic leadership”. The title went something like, “Authentic leadership is the new buzz word. Want to learn how to be authentic?”

Now that alone made me

1. crack up and

2. stop reading.

If you need to learn to be authentic good for you, but I would have thought that being authentic is not something you learn, you either are or you’re not.  It is like integrity, you either have it or you don’t.

I’ve been me from day one. I’ve never tried to be someone else on stage and myself off stage. What you see is what you get. Oh and I’m Ok with the fact I’m not everyones cup of tea. Billie is exactly the same. We are just US.

Not everyone likes being told the truth (backed up with the facts).

Not everyone likes people who are direct.

Not everyone likes people who drop the F bomb either.

That’s Ok as not everyone is my cup of tea either.

I get that had I pretended to be someone else on stage, I would have made more money. That is a given I’ve been in communities where what you see on stage is NO WHERE near what you get off stage. If you had a pulse and a credit card, you had a target on your back. That’s not me and that’s not what we do.

If you need to learn to be authentic, just start by taking the stick out of your ass and be yourself. IT might hurt that not everyone will like the real you, but at least the most important person will. That’s you, just in case you were wondering.

Be yourself, fuck what everyone else thinks.

Does that mean you have to stay being you? NO, I’m wanting to improve myself all the time. I don’t want to be someone else, I just want to be a better version of ME, whatever that means to me.

To whomever is now selling authentic leadership courses, good for you. I wish you success. Be nice to see if you are practising what you are preaching.