Name a human trait you most admire? [pause]

Kindness? Trustworthiness? Honesty? Yes, yes, and yes. I have one more that ranks equally high. Can you guess what it is? [Hint: it is in the title.]

Authenticity. I greatly admire people who are always themselves, whether at a business meeting or family gathering. Authentic people don’t try to fit a mold or morph into other people’s expectations.

Authenticity does not mean spilling your guts to anyone and everyone. Authentic people don’t confide every personal concern to their new neighbor nor do they share every detail to their boss. Privacy and authenticity can coexist harmoniously.

Authenticity does not mean hurting people under the guise of “this is who I am.” Authentic people use common sense and good judgement. Kindness and authenticity can coexist harmoniously.

We teach our children to “be yourself.” However, as we grow up, we become our worst critic, too often feeling we are “not enough” in one way or another. We then learn to anticipate what we think other people expect of us, and we try to conform to that image. We worry about being judged harshly. This makes life unnecessarily harder.  

Being human means being imperfect. Learning, growing and improving are lifelong pursuits, none of which negate our inherent OK-ness. I coach people to be their best selves because that’s who they do best.

I look forward to our future authentic interactions between imperfect me and imperfect you. And that’s just perfect.