Great article on authentic leadership...

Happy Saturday everyone!

I happened across this article while sipping coffee and thought it might be a good content for readers. For weeks, I have been stuck on the topic of being genuine both in networking situations and in professional life.  So, if you are there with me, enjoy!

Excerpt:

Why Is Authenticity So Hard?

Before we can get into how to be an authentic leader, we have to first understand why authenticity is so difficult to maintain in the workplace.There are many fears that keep leaders from striving to be their authentic selves, such as exposing a real or imagined weakness, losing respect, or even missing out on an opportunity. To make matters worse, workplace culture, professional subcultures, industry cultures, and even national cultures all exert enormous pressure on leaders to conform. If your views differ from the cultural norm, you may hesitate to express them.

It takes some rock-solid confidence to be able to stick to your guns when they aren’t readily accepted. No one wants to be viewed as “different,” but failing to act authentically has a pretty big downside, too. You may have trouble creating trusting relationships, experience a loss of self-respect and respect from your co-workers, or even get dragged into corporate corruption and scandal. 

Read more from Chris Cancialosi at Forbes on 6 Authentic Leadership tips for Overcoming Your Fears.