I came across a LinkedIn colleague’s posting by Dawn Frail from Athena, referencing some of the industry’s most successful women: Oprah Winfrey, Melinda Gates, Dolly Parton, and Suneera Madhani. It is a reminder about showing up for yourself and others and our ability or inability to actually be “authentic” in our everyday lives.
I wished to take this a step further.
Psychology Today would suggest;
“Authenticity is about congruence between our deeper values and beliefs (i.e., a “true self”) and our actions. When there is a lack of congruence, this leads to an emotional force that seeks reduction. This posits a scientifically elusive but recognizable concept—the notion that there is an “authentic” or “true self” from which this lack of congruence is being generated” (Harter, 2002; Sheldon, 2004; Strohminger, Knobe, & Newman, 2017).
Many articles suggest that authenticity is one of the deciding factors in leadership roles that will determine your success. LinkedIn editorials continue to push this notion that authenticity, including honesty, originality, and trustfulness, is vital to holding supervisory and managerial employment positions.
LinkedIn and many employment resource sites will even advise you on the approaches to take, which will have others, specifically those in promotion decision roles, take notice of your authenticity. This perspective is a subconscious warning to males in decision-making roles.
To be seen as successful, influential, and a positive contributor to the workplace and society, men, may continue to perpetuate the view that everyone must be and act like men, intentionally or not.
Why is this important - Globally, the vast majority of decision-makers in government, the military, business and economics are men.
For women, many gave up or lost their authenticity by trying to become men to survive in a man’s world. The gender disparity is causing women issues in the workplace and has thrown entire workplaces out of harmony. Modern workplaces are made up equally of men and women.
While this advice covers the basics, it misses the mark on why authenticity is essential for everyone, regardless of gender, role and promotability.
Authenticity is currently being framed as a personal and professional method to connect with others and as a marketing tool.
This dramatically diminishes the perspective, and importance of the sense of self, reflection and personal discovery, that allows us to make meaningful, truthful, and honest connections with ourselves and others.
Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines authenticity as “true to one’s personality, spirit, or character.” It also means “worthy of acceptance.. conforming to an original...done the same way as an original.” There is inherent conflict within the definition that may not be defined appropriately.
Building Authenticity at work:
Definition, please?
How we behave and what we expect with authenticity at work is currently a moving target, as we lack a standard definition of what being authentic means. A suggestion from MIT in 2022 suggests that authenticity should / needs to be defined and that boundaries and accountability are the keys to allowing people to be their true selves at work. This is also a current topic of investigation for the Work Economic Forum. Meaning we are still in the process of trying to create the social construct of what it means to actually be authentic.
Remarkably, given the often invisible barriers to expressions of one’s authentic self, moving to expect people to be authentic or vulnerable does not begin to build psychological safety, according to the London School of Economics. Instead, by deliberately building an environment that encourages differences of opinion while being psychologically safe, individuals are more likely to express authentic behaviours, take risks and suggest new ideas that can breed creativity and innovation. This lays a foundation for more equitable working environments and parity in authentic expression among employees.
In the meantime... what can I do to define authenticity for myself and my environment?
While some have greater scope and access, everyone has the ability and opportunity to impact the levels of authenticity in our work lives.
What can each of us do:
Seek out transparent and authentic coworkers
Tell the truth
Seek out organizational feedback at all levels
Give everyone access to information
Embrace, instill and drive the values of the company
Build trust, one-on-one and in groups
Place authentic and transparent employees in positions where they can influence others
Respond positively to honesty
Make it a point to include everyone
Never, ever break a promise, even an “implied promise.”
Encourage socializing but do not demand or require it
The NEXT big Shift: Looking beyond authenticity to gender expression
Many people express themselves in ways aligned with social norms related to sex and gender. Others may choose expressions different from what people may expect of their gender identity. Yet, expressing true gender identity is critical to living authentically.
Gender is a social construct created by people to help categorize and explain the world around them. You may not notice it all the time, but each gender has expectations, like how to act, talk, dress, feel emotion, and interact with others.
Social constructs are objects, events or behaviours that exist only because society, the "Royal WE”, created and accepted them. These include things like assigning value to money, the concept of marriage, and the perceived value assigned to ethnicity and/ or gender/expression, to name a few.
Without our human interaction, social constructs could and would not exist and would not continue to have an impact on society.
We can choose which constructs require redefining and which ones just need to go.
I would love to hear your thoughts on the information and suggestions contained in the above article. Please comment with any feedback you may have.
Thanks,
David
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