You are Becoming more Authentic...Here's Why.

Jelena asked me to provide a picture of myself, in a suit, to update my LinkedIn profile. It occurred to me that I haven’t worn a suit in at least a year. Working from home and meeting people from the waist up sort of negates the whole suit idea.

This “going to work” is an interesting concept that has become normal over the last year. That physical ‘going’ transitions me from Andrew at home (one might say the authentic Andrew) to Andrew at work where I wore a specific costume for the part I play. Now that I am not ‘going’ to work, that transition doesn’t happen. The division between Andrew at work and Authentic Andrew has blurred. (And I seem to have developed a Hawaiian bent.)

So what?

As business leaders, we are much less likely to put up with any hassles. We are becoming more true to ourselves and thus find it hard to false to anyone (to paraphrase Polonius). We tend to be our authentic selves wherever we are or whatever we are doing.

How does this affect the way you lead? How does this affect the way you interact with prospects and clients?

I think it means that our team members, clients and suppliers are much less likely to put up with any pretentious pomposity. We must be authentic, open and vulnerable (just like Andrew at home). We must be true to ourselves no matter whether we are WFH or WFO.

What are you seeing? Are we becoming a better society as a result of this? Is work more fulfilling for you? For your team?