HOW TO NAVIGATE AUTHENTICITY & STRATEGY

Do you ever worry about being too authentic or too strategic at work, my friend???

You're not alone—this fear is something many of us experience,?

especially in industries where standing out can feel risky.

I want to share something with you that I hope will take the pressure off a bit:

It's not about perfectly balancing?

authenticity and strategy.?

Instead, think of it as navigating a range.?

Sometimes, you’ll lean more into your authentic self;

?at other times, being strategic will take the front seat.?

The key is knowing when to shift along the way.

And that really is a matter of your goals and values,

and how they align with the company's goals and values.

This is true whether you tend toward the authentic or the strategic.

And I want to stress that none is “better” or “worse” than the other.

There's a lot of nature and nurture that goes into how we show up.

For me, for instance, being strategic is pretty much my M.O.

My dad, always the lawyer, challenged me to anticipate the consequences of my actions basically from the time I could form a sentence.

As he was also a politician, I spend a lot of time on weekends?when he was on child duty in “the room where it happens” –?

coloring or reading while listening to the old boys' club,?learning strategy by osmosis.

Later, my dad trained me to reverse-engineer my path?starting from the outcome I wanted to achieve.

I've always considered those very valuable lessons.

Leaning into my authenticity has been a lot harder for me.

Especially because my business owner grandmother and mother kept telling me?

that nothing is as important as what others think of you.

So however you truly feel, you'll need to keep up appearances.

It takes a long time to get over this type of conditioning.

Your background might be very different,

and so might your take on authenticity and strategy,

but either way, you may struggle to navigate this range effectively.

So here are three tangible steps to make things easier:?

1) Know Your Core Values

Identify what truly matters to you.

Being clear on your non-negotiables helps you decide when to be super authentic and when to prioritize strategy – without feeling like you’re compromising who you are.

2) Assess the Situation?

Not every scenario requires the same approach.

Before deciding how to act, consider what the situation calls for. Are you in a space where authenticity will build trust, or is a strategic move necessary to achieve a long-term goal?

3) Embrace the Fluidity

Understand that you don’t have to stay on one side of the range.

Give yourself permission to shift as needed. Sometimes you’ll need to be more strategic, other times more authentic – and that’s perfectly okay.

Navigating this range can be challenging,

but it’s also where opportunities arise and where growth happens.?

I’d love to hear your take on being authentic and/or strategic.?

Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comments or send me a DM!

Love, Micha

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