What does it mean to be “authentic”?

Authenticity isn’t’ as simple as it seems. In fact - the definition itself is broad. If we dig deeper through, we’ll find that there are really three different types of authenticity; and they all apply to leadership. Lets take a look, and see how we can apply an authentic style to our everyday life.

There are actually three types of authenticity. That is because authenticity isn’t just used to describe how people communicate, but can be used to describe a painting (this is an authentic Van Gaugh), a food (this is authentic Indian food), or a person. Each of these definitions are used when we think about a person though, so we need to understand them all to live them.

Historical authenticity

Historical authenticity is simply the ability to trace the roots of an item back to some historically accurate start. For example, and authentic Van Gaugh means that it can be traced back to the artist. We apply this type of authenticity with ourselves by tracing our statements back to our experiences. For example are your beliefs traceable to a real experience that your audience understands?

Categorical authenticity

When we describe authentic Indian food, we are describing it against a category of expectations. It is using a recipe that has Indian native incredients perhaps, or is conformant to a standard type of dish. This impacts us with how we are measured by our audience in terms of what they are expecting. Is our statement fitting the expectations of the audience in terms of what I should be saying? Did I define my category up front?

Values authenticity

This is the most common category of authenticity applied to our everyday interactions, and this type of authenticity is defined as the alignment of perceived internal values with external expression of these values. We accomplish this through a number of means. The first and most misunderstood is emotional range. Audiences respect someone that varies their emotional tone. This is indicative of vulnerability, and therefore a view to your inner thoughts. Additionally, audiences perceive a speaker’s explanation of choices, and linking those choices to their personal value system as an expression of authenticity.