In All Sincerity, You Can’t Fake It
Oct 14th, 2009 by David Svet
I was at a conference last week and heard some amazing speakers. Each are experts in their field at the top of their game. They got where they are by working very hard, making personal sacrifices, and by believing sincerely in their vision, mission, and plan. When they told their stories, they could plumb the depths of their experiences to lay out a vision for the future with the utmost of sincerity because they lived it. The impact was truly inspiring.
The breakout sessions featured the experts’ colleagues — followers who are on board to fight for the cause. I’m sure that they are all wonderful people who have accomplished a great deal through their efforts. But several of them were so inspired by their leaders that they went beyond emulating them to imitating them. Instead of being sincere they were trying to show the same sincerity as their leader. The result was anything but.
You can’t fake sincerity. I think we are wired to detect it. We know when something just doesn’t ring true and we run the other direction. It’s the red flag waving. It’s the alarm bells ringing. It’s the robot shouting, “Danger, Will Robinson.” It immediately causes us to discount everything that someone says.
It’s wonderful to have charismatic leaders who give their all to a great cause. Follow them. Help them. But be yourself, be honest; be true to who you are and how you fit into the organization. Anything else hurts the cause.
imitating vs emulating - while i’m not entirely aware of the full context surrounding this observation, i am nonetheless inclined to share my general sense of the behaviour you’ve noted: those not typically used to creating or producing their own ideas and are thus immediately inspired by the charismatic will more than likely initially imitate their charisma (if not content) but eventually—and only if they remaind true to themselves (as you pointed out) and persevere to find their own unique creative voice/signature—will branch off to make their own mark.
Great point Autom. That seems to be the case for most acts of expression doesn’t it? Finding the sense of self that makes it self expression seems to be the key. It reminds me of art school students cranking out nearly matching portfolios trying to balance their need for faculty approval at the expense of their need for self expression.