Be Authentic – Why Being More Yourself Can Deliver Better Business Results
Authenticity is not a fluffy personality trait—it is a practical communication behaviour that can affect trust, engagement, collaboration and ultimately performance.
Authenticity at work isn't about being yourself without a filter. It's about being yourself with intention. When I talk to leaders about relationships, communication and performance, I often hear the same concern:
"But surely business is about results. How does being authentic help with that?"
It's a fair question.
Because "authenticity" can sound like another one of those soft, fluffy workplace concepts that belongs in a wellbeing brochure rather than a boardroom.
I see it very differently.
In fact, it's one of the six behaviours in my Relationships to Results™ model because when people trust what they see, hear and experience from us, conversations become easier, relationships become stronger and collaboration becomes more effective. And that can have a very hard edge indeed.
The UK workplace has a relationship problem
The business case for paying attention to relationships is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. According to the CIPD's Good Work Index 2024, around 8 million UK employees – approximately one in four – experienced workplace conflict during the previous year. The most common experiences included being undermined or humiliated and being shouted at or involved in heated arguments
And these aren't just HR issues. Relationships affect whether people speak up, share information, challenge ideas, resolve problems and collaborate effectively.
The CIPD's 2025 research found that employees experiencing positive emotions such as energy, enthusiasm and immersion at work were around one-quarter more likely to go the extra mile for their organisation. More than 90% reported achieving their objectives when experiencing those positive states, compared with under 80% among those experiencing negative feelings such as exhaustion, pressure, boredom, misery or loneliness.
Meanwhile, Gallup's latest UK data shows just 10% of UK employees are engaged at work, with 83% classified as not engaged and 7% actively disengaged.
That gives leaders something important to think about. If people don't feel connected, heard or able to contribute fully, what is the organisation leaving on the table?
Poor communication isn't simply an inconvenience.
It's expensive.
Recent workplace research found that 87% of employees spend time clarifying unclear messages, with workers losing an average of five hours every week because of communication misunderstandings. The same research found that 83% of employees had experienced miscommunication that damaged workplace relationships, created conflict or required HR intervention.
Think about that.
Five hours per week.
Across a team of 100 people.
Across an organisation of 1,000 people.
The cost quickly becomes enormous.
Not because people lack technical skills.
But because communication isn't landing effectively.
Because people aren't adapting.
Authenticity creates the conditions for better conversations
There is also research specifically connecting authentic leadership with team performance. A study involving 53 teams across three organisations in the UK found that authentic leadership influenced team performance through team reflexivity – essentially, the team's ability to examine and adapt how it works together. The researchers found this process was associated with both team effectiveness and productivity.
That's particularly interesting to me. Because authenticity isn't simply about feeling good. It can change the quality of the conversations taking place inside the team. And better conversations can change behaviour. Behaviour changes results.
The problem with putting on a professional mask
Most of us have learned how to "do work".
We know how to sound professional. We know how to behave in meetings. We know the language we're supposed to use with senior people, customers and colleagues. Sometimes that's useful.
But there is a difference between being professional and performing a version of yourself. When we spend too much energy managing the impression we're making, we can become less effective at the thing that really matters: connecting with the person in front of us.
People are remarkably good at detecting incongruence. If a leader says, "My door is always open" but never really listens, people notice.
If a salesperson says, "I'm interested in your challenges" but immediately launches into a pitch, the customer notices. If a team member says, "I completely agree" when they clearly don't, the team notices.
And once people stop believing what you say, every future conversation becomes harder.
Authenticity doesn't mean saying whatever you think
This is an important distinction. Being authentic doesn't mean:
saying everything that comes into your head
refusing to adapt your communication style
telling people exactly what you think regardless of the consequences
oversharing personal information
using "that's just who I am" as an excuse for poor behaviour
Authenticity is not "I say it like it is."
It's closer to: "I know who I am, I know what I stand for, and I communicate honestly and appropriately with you."
That still requires flexibility. In fact, the most authentic communicators I know are often highly adaptable.
They don't change their values.
They change their approach.
That's a crucial difference.
Your style can change. Your values don't have to.
Imagine a leader who is naturally direct. Their instinct is to get to the point quickly, challenge assumptions and make decisions. That can be a strength.
But if they're speaking to someone who needs more context, more time or a greater sense of involvement, simply becoming more direct isn't necessarily going to produce a better result.
The answer isn't to become someone they're not. It's to adapt how they communicate while remaining true to who they are.
How can I do that without losing myself?
That's where authenticity becomes powerful.
One of the biggest misconceptions about adapting is that people worry it means being inauthentic.
It doesn't.
Adaptation is not changing your personality.
It's changing your behaviour.
Your values remain the same.
Your integrity remains the same.
Your purpose remains the same.
What changes is how you deliver your message.
Think about a skilled teacher. They don't explain complex ideas in exactly the same way to a six-year-old as they would to a university student.
The message is the same.
The delivery is different.
The most effective leaders, sales professionals and team members understand this instinctively. They recognise that communication isn't about saying what makes sense to them. It's about saying it in a way that makes sense to the other person.
That's adaptation.
So what does authentic communication actually look like?
So what does authentic communication actually look like? For me, it comes down to five practical behaviours.
1. Say what you really mean
If something isn't working, don't hide behind corporate language. You can be honest without being brutal.
"I'm concerned about the deadline, and I'd like us to look at what we can change" is very different from: "This is never going to work."
Both communicate concern. One creates a conversation; the other can shut one down.
2. Admit what you don't know
One of the most powerful things a leader can say is: "I don't know. Let's work it out."
You don't lose credibility by admitting uncertainty. Often, you gain it. People don't expect leaders to have every answer. They do expect them to be honest.
3. Let people see the human being
You don't have to become everyone's best friend.
But you can show warmth. You can laugh. You can acknowledge when something is difficult. You can share an appropriate story about a mistake you've made. These small moments can reduce distance between people. And reduced distance can make difficult conversations easier.
4. Match your communication to the person
This is where authenticity and adaptability meet.
Your message should remain true. Your delivery can change. A great communicator isn't the person who communicates the same way with everyone.
It's the person who can remain genuine while making it easier for different people to hear, understand and respond to what they're saying.
5. Do what you say you'll do
Perhaps the most powerful form of authenticity is consistency.
If you say you'll call, call. If you say you'll listen, listen. If you say you want challenge, don't punish someone for challenging you.
Trust isn't built through one big leadership moment. It's built through hundreds of small interactions.
The Competitive Advantage of a 5% Shift
This is why I believe organisations don't necessarily need another huge communication initiative. Sometimes they need a 5% shift.
A leader who normally dominates a meeting might speak 5% less and ask 5% more. A salesperson who normally launches into their presentation might spend 5% more time being genuinely curious. A manager who normally hides uncertainty might admit, "I'm not sure." A team that normally avoids difficult conversations might have one honest conversation earlier.
None of these changes sounds revolutionary. But multiplied across hundreds or thousands of interactions, they can become significant.
Gallup's global meta-analysis of more than 183,000 business and work units, representing more than 3.35 million employees, found that higher employee engagement was associated with meaningful differences in business outcomes.
Top-quartile versus bottom-quartile units showed median differences of 23% in profitability, 18% in sales productivity, 21% in turnover in high-turnover organisations and 10% in customer loyalty/engagement. Gallup is clear that these are relationships between engagement and outcomes, rather than proof that one factor alone causes the other.
That distinction matters. But so does the opportunity. From soft skill to hard result.
When we talk about authenticity, we can easily make it sound like something that's simply "nice to have".
I don't believe it is.
Authenticity affects how people experience us. How people experience us affects whether they trust us. Trust affects the quality of conversations we can have. Those conversations influence collaboration, decisions, customer relationships, conflict and execution.
And those things affect business performance.
One of the reasons I focus on small behavioural changes is because adaptation doesn't require a complete personality overhaul.
Most of the time, the difference between a conversation that creates resistance and one that creates results is surprisingly small.
A slightly different question.
A different pace.
A different level of detail.
A more collaborative tone.
A better choice of words.
Just a 5% shift.
But those small shifts compound.
A stronger relationship with a customer.
A more productive conversation with a colleague.
A faster resolution to conflict.
A more engaged team.
Multiply those outcomes across hundreds or thousands of interactions and the impact becomes measurable in revenue, productivity and performance.
Final Thought: That's the journey from Relationships to Results™.
It's not about transforming everything overnight. It's about making small, deliberate changes in the moments that matter.
So here's my challenge:
Where could you be 5% more authentic this week?
Perhaps it's telling a customer what you genuinely think.
Perhaps it's admitting to your team that you don't have all the answers.
Perhaps it's having the conversation you've been avoiding.
Or perhaps it's simply dropping the professional mask for a moment and letting people see the real person behind the job title.
Because authenticity isn't about being less professional.
It's about being more real – so that the relationships you rely on to get results can become stronger, faster and more effective.
The organisations that thrive in the future won't simply be the ones with the best technology, the biggest budgets or the smartest strategies.
They'll be the organisations whose people know how to connect.
Because business is still fundamentally human.
And humans are different.
When we pause.
When we listen and learn.
And when we adapt our communication to the person in front of us, something powerful happens.
People feel understood.
Trust grows.
Collaboration improves.
Conflict reduces.
Performance accelerates.
That's why adaptation isn't a soft skill.
It's a business skill.
And when done well, it transforms relationships into results.
