Authenticity: How to Unlock Your Unique Value
‘To thine own self be true.’ – Shakespeare
In 2009, after reaching a significant personal and professional change cliff and it upending my career and life, I decided to go to Washington DC. With the little rationale I had left, I felt I had to go – I felt I had nothing else. My identity was shattered and my future plans, well, they were unknown.
So, I got on that plane and left behind my ‘old’ world. I had no job, no visa, no house, no income, no purpose and no plan. I moved through the days on limited capacity. I went from place to place and meeting to meeting, and I followed lead after lead, trying to make my story and life mean something again. I asked myself: Who am I now? Who am I really? What is my identity? What am I to do now?
I knew what I had been: a senior corporate executive and leader living in Sydney with great friends and family.
I went deep. Under the pressure, state of urgency and lack of career and financial security, I dialled up my Career Purpose- and soul-searching. I read books, sought out coaching, went on more personal and professional development courses, went on retreats, visited healers and clairvoyants, meditated, worked out and upped my various yoga and master classes hoping to discover who I truly was.
So, like with an onion, I peeled back the layers to discover who and what was at my core. This was a painful, confronting, career- and life-threatening, mind- and all-consuming process. There wasn’t a moment I wasn’t thinking about this stuff because I knew it was the key to my survival – literally!
I re-evaluated my values, my strengths, my passions, my purpose, my why, and what I really felt was true for myself.
What Is Your Authentic Self?
Authenticity involves being rooted in your deepest purpose, beliefs, values and truth and living a life that is a true reflection of them.
We crave authenticity. We want authenticity in ourselves, others, leaders and organisations. It’s so valuable that people connect with it and are attracted to it.
We sense if a person is not authentic. We can spot a fake a mile away. It devalues everything they do and say and who they are. (Do you really follow and give your best to an inauthentic leader?)
When you feel authentic, you feel whole, and your energy and influence are more powerful.
Authenticity allows you to unlock your unique value.
You are unique; you have authentic superpowers, and we need them. We need you to own your authenticity so you can align and activate it for highest impact. To do that, you need to identify what your STANDOUT ADVantage is.
Unlocking Your Unique Value: Your STANDOUT ADVantage
Your STANDOUT ADVantage is made up of three things:
Authentic superpowers
Differentiators
Values
Let’s explore each in detail.
Your Authentic Superpowers
Most of us go through life without knowing our superpowers or even our strengths. I see client after client who draws a blank when I ask them to list their strengths. This hurts me at a soul level. It’s a crying shame. If we don’t even know our strengths, how can we fully leverage them for positive impact in the world?
I’ve been a long-time follower of Oprah. In an appearance in Sydney entitled How to turn up the volume in your life, she spoke about finding the common thread throughout your life to be able to maximise your life. I know that’s easier said than done, so we are going to discover your common threads below – if we pull these together, we can see what your authentic superpowers are.
Why do you need to know your superpowers? When we pull these authentic superpowers together, these are things we’re going to highlight in your life. It gives us a clear guide to what your authentic self looks like.
If you are stuck, here are some examples of superpowers to help: Intuition, Innovation, Insight, Instigation, Independent thinking, Influencing ability, Ideation, Inclusive approach, Inquiring ability, Improving Processes, Incisive decision making, Inquisitiveness, Inviting change, Implementation, Imagination, Inspiring leadership (these are just some starting with I) .
So, what are your authentic superpowers? The list is endless, and the combination will be unique to you.
Your Differentiators
A client was recently explaining that she felt an interview had gone poorly. She had been authentic in her truth, admitting that the role might not be a fit for her as she didn’t have government experience and explaining she really wanted to be in an environment where she could make changes. She had also been upfront with the fact that she is a mum and she wanted to work flexible hours where practical.
Well, it turns out those three differentiators got her the job. That’s exactly what the company wanted. It wanted outside experience. It wanted a shake-up to make real change, and its mission was to work flexibly and showcase how the company could work in the future.
It’s comfortable and perceived as safer not to stand out. Fears arise. Tall poppy syndrome and imposter syndrome can cut us down and make our impact smaller, when we think, ‘It’s better if I try and fit in.’
The ‘fitting in’ strategy essentially gets you nowhere as you don’t show your uniqueness and full value; you are not bringing your best to the situation and, what’s worse, you feel small and you get further away from the amplified career and life that you could have.
The rewards are there for those who are authentic and do stand out.
What makes you different (inside and outside of work?)
Your Values
In our increasingly complex world, it’s more important than ever to know what you stand for.
Nikki, for example, was a senior manager aspiring to become a director. In addition to her corporate role, she had a side business. Everything was looking great, but she revealed that, honestly, she was overwhelmed with the state of the world, industry change and her work reshaping, and in this state she wasn’t going to big contribution to any one in particular.
We centred in on discovering her authentic power values for her at this time in her life. While she cared about many things, the clarity on what she really, really, really cared about reduced all the clutter and mind chatter.
In a nutshell, for her, it was important to be a role model in the finance industry; she stood for financial independence, for women in particular, and wellness. What was valued by her organisation and others, and what they said would add more value to her, was her being a leading role model showing that it can be done, bringing her unique client network and contacts to the firm, and being more clear and confident in her communication. In their words: ‘Be more in your truth versus comparing to others.’
So, while it was both confirming and a little hard to hear, we were very clear on what Nikki’s best authentic self was – when she was clear, confident and unapologetically true.
What are your authentic power values? What do you really, really care about?
Once you are living authentically, your confidence will start to soar, and you’ll start to step into a bigger game. You’ll be much more comfortable stepping into branding for bigger impact, as it’s authentic to you!
Authenticity is one of my three Futureproofing Keys. Learn more about how to unlock your unique value in my book: Futureproof You: 3 Keys to Reimagining Your Career and Amplifying Your Impact in the New World of Work
Confront Your Reality
Do a quick check-in. Are any of the following statements true for you?
I want a meaningful, impactful, fulfilling career.
There is more to my career, leadership and life.
I have more to give.
I am overwhelmed with expectations, roles, workload and/or options and I can’t see a clear path for what’s best anymore.
I don’t have a career or future plan.
I am not feeling my whole self at work.
I don’t want to sell myself or to be ‘cut down’.
I don’t know how to brand myself authentically to be more influential, impactful and valuable.
I don’t want to regret not making the impact I could have.
I am driven to achieve, contribute and be a role model.
I have a need to maintain my livelihood and lifestyle (and others); I want to maximise my value, worth and impact.
Something needs to change but I don’t know what or how.
Yes? Then it’s time to Futureproof You.
You can BE MORE.
You can MAKE MORE IMPACT IN YOUR CAREER.
You can be your AUTHENTIC, WHOLE SELF and BE VALUED MORE FOR IT.
You can ADAPT and MAXIMISE YOUR VALUE & FUTURE in an ever-changing world.