Reputation Over Unfiltered Authenticity

The popular notion of "just be yourself" is often counterproductive to effective leadership and professional success. While feeling authentic is linked to personal well-being, being an effective leader requires managing your behaviour to meet the needs and expectations of others.

School leaders should adopt the following guideline:

Focus on Impression Management and Reputation over raw, subjective authenticity.

Key Action Points:

• Prioritise Obligation over Impulse: Recognise where your right to express your "unfiltered self" ends and your obligation to your staff, students, and school community begins.

   

• Modulate Behaviour Strategically: Actively adjust or "edit" your behaviour based on what the situation demands. This strategic approach, which may feel inauthentic to you, is often perceived by others as competence, maturity, and trustworthiness.

   

• Regulate Emotions and Opinions: Avoid sharing raw emotions (like stress or anger) or polarizing opinions that can make you appear volatile or reckless. Instead, model stability and diplomacy.

   

• Use Tact Over Candor: Couch critique diplomatically. While subjective authenticity might encourage "telling it like it is," effective leadership requires being both credible and considerate.

   

• Balance Vulnerability with Competence: Disclose personal struggles or failures selectively. Oversharing can erode confidence. The most effective leaders project direction and competence, even when acknowledging limits.

By strategically disciplining your authentic self and focusing on appropriate, effective, and considerate behaviour, you will paradoxically be perceived as more trustworthy and authentically competent by your peers and staff.

Summarised from Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic “When Authentic Leadership Backfires” in Harvard Business Review, October 2025