Authenticity? Not Really. Inspiring Others is All About Emotion

I was having a conversation with a VP-level client at a Fortune 200 company. We were talking about his objective of being a more inspirational leader — right up my alley.

I asked him to think about someone who really inspired him recently, and he suggested the new(ish) CEO of his company. In his first weeks, the CEO gave an inspirational speech to the senior team in which my client suggested he was very “authentic.” I asked, “What made him authentic?”

“Authentic” is defined by Merriam-Webster as, “true to one’s own personality, spirit, or character; is sincere and authentic with no pretensions.” As we dissected the experience for my client, we discovered that it was actually impossible to tell whether the CEO was being authentic. Truth be told, given that we had never met this CEO, we had no idea what his personality was or if he was being true to his character. What a revelation!

So, what was this CEO doing that made the experience so inspiring?

He touched on something important to the audience.

The topics the CEO covered were important and meaningful to the audience. He selected thoughts and ideas that had relevance and clearly related to the same things that mattered to those listening. Not everything he said was directly relatable to my particular client, but enough of it had relevance to my client’s day-to-day life.

He made people feel something.

Leaders who inspire lead with their heart. They are not only unafraid to show emotion, they rely on it to connect on a deeper level with their teams.

My client walked away feeling excited and energized by what was to come. He felt that the challenges ahead were going to be difficult, but that he had a role to play in the success of the company. He felt connected to the message and could see himself in the stories the CEO was telling. He could put words to those emotions, and that was no accident. That CEO almost certainly spent time thinking about the feelings he hoped to evoke from the audience.

He seemed to be a ‘real’ person.

Like the definition of authenticity suggests, the CEO came across as true to this personality and spirit. The fact is, few, if any, in the audience actually know the man. Yet he came across that way. He used stories and examples from his own life to relay the messages he wanted to convey. He was relatable as a human being.

He made specific requests to encourage a change in behavior.

In order to be truly inspiring, people need to feel the desire and energy to do something. Even better, the team must feel like they have an opportunity to do something new to achieve a large goal.

He articulated to the audience the big goals that the company has — new ones or refreshed ones that the teams could rally around. And then he encouraged everyone in that audience to create plans to get there. The goals weren’t so specific that each team member couldn’t relate; instead, the requests were big enough that each person in attendance could immediately do some new things to make progress. New behaviors equal growth and learning.

Being more inspiring relies on one’s ability to connect — to touch on things that matter and encourage and revel in new action.

What can you do to be more be more inspiring today?

(Originally published on Forbes.com https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2018/03/06/authenticity-not-really-inspiring-others-is-all-about-emotion/#2e5f5322af88)