Sometimes you have to act "unnaturally" to grow

Being authentic is important to me. I don’t like being fake, and I bet you feel the same way.

I’ve found that authenticity is sometimes an excuse not to take the necessary steps to improve.

“That’s just not me.”

“I can’t do that”.

Or, my favorite, “that feels unnatural.”

I don’t know about you, but some of the things that are best for me don’t feel natural. Eating a salad for lunch instead of a hamburger or stretching before a workout, for example.

Facing work on Monday morning with a long list of to-dos never feels natural. But by the end of the day, I get in the groove, and by Tuesday I feel better. ?

To continue to develop and grow, I sometimes have to do things that feel unnatural. If I am authentically grumpy, short with people, and communicate poorly (and have been all three at times), then I am going to try something different.

Professional golfers are famous for re-learning their swings to correct bad habits and improve their games. They force themselves to play in ways that feel very unnatural to them in order to get better results over the long-term.

The same concept applies to us as leaders. Sometimes, we have to implement new habits that feel unnatural to achieve higher levels of performance. Sure, it feels unnatural and inauthentic sometimes. But if you want to get better, after you say “that feels unnatural” say “okay, I’ll try.”