You wake up. You listen to your body. It feels like a heavy, listless sack. You refuse to get up. You set the alarm clock to "snooze." Finally, a sense of duty drives you. First to the bathroom. Routine actions: wash, get dressed. Quick breakfast, off to the office. In the hallway, you encounter an outrageously cheerful colleague:"Hello boss, how are you on this wonderful day?" You answer honestly: "Miserable. No motivation. I'd rather be at home with my feet up!" The response:"Boss, you're so wonderfully authentic!"
Of course, you no longer experience days when you lack motivation. You overcame that long ago. That doesn't happen to you anymore, but perhaps you know someone who still experiences it? "Authenticity" is the buzzword that has been doing the rounds in leadership training circles for some time now. And not only there. Actors, musicians, and painters are also familiar with it. When asked about THE secret to success, the answer is unanimous: you just have to be authentic, always remain human. Be yourself, and everyone will follow you! Be unfiltered, be consistent, don't hide your feelings!
Change of scene: You are with a client. A million-dollar deal. About to close. You have worked hard and given it your all. But suddenly you realize something: closing this deal will force you to deal intensively with this person for several years to come. The mere thought of it turns your stomach. Of course, you now say, completely authentically: "I'm sorry, dear customer. I just realized that I don't really like you and don't want anything to do with you. We should end this before it has even begun."
Authenticity is a lifelong task—not a passing trend
That's how it is with buzzwords and trends. In search of their next raison d'être, consultants, trainers, coaches, and speakers delight leader who are bored with everyday life."Every beginning has its own magic,"Hermann Hesse rightly said. After all, the new, the fresh, the modern is so inspiring. Hesse fails to mention that the new does not automatically have substance, depth, and first-class results. So a marketing-savvy person invents an intellectual mouse and turns it into an elephant. He names a workshop after it, makes the mini rodent the topic of a lecture, and prints it in bold letters on a book cover. More books by other authors follow. The wave feeds itself. And because more and more people are talking about it, everyone believes they have stumbled upon the philosopher's stone. But since the wave never solves problems at their root, the search continues. New buzzwords: "resilience," "sustainability," "diversity," "vision workshop," or "intrinsic motivation." On to the next big thing.
Authenticity is something very serious. It is not a passing trend. It is a kind of guiding star to a deep harmony between inner experience and outer effect. You guessed it. Here lies a life's work, a guide for life! Authenticity cannot be learned in a 45-minute lecture or a one-day seminar. To understand it deeply and to earn the right to be authentic through results and achievements is a privilege. Few people achieve this. Deep understanding means knowing that authenticity does not mean acting on every whim and trumpeting every sorrow and every joy to the world. It is more about "professional coherence." It has its time, its place, and its manner. Becoming more and more coherent and being allowed to live that coherence. What a blessing.
The power of basics
Don't focus on trendy topics, but rather on what remains after the wave has passed—the substance. Most of the time, these are the basics. Fundamentals. It has always been this way: those who live by the fundamentals with exceptional consistency are far ahead of the rest. Authenticity is a question of consistency with oneself. Only those who increasingly recognize and acknowledge themselves can courageously follow this consistency. Step by step. If you live this way, you will feel how your impact on others becomes stronger and stronger. Until you have completely arrived at your true self and are able to live exactly that way. You cannot ask for more. And your excellent results will confirm this state. I wish you with all my heart that you will be able to live this great goal someday.
