Here’s the problem with the common wisdom to “just be yourself.” Even though people like to think they’re at their best when they’re being authentic, that just isn’t true. Especially for career development, authenticity can be problematic.
Our so-called authentic impulses include behavior we resist for good reason. Imagine if you showed every single one of your feelings to all your coworkers, leadership included. Sound like a nightmare? Exactly.
Authenticity at work will derail your career.
On episode 125 of The Science of Personality, cohosts Ryne Sherman, PhD, and Blake Loepp discussed career development in terms of authenticity at work—and the advantages of acting against your instincts.
“Bringing your authentic self to work could get you into trouble,” Ryne said. But it doesn’t have to.
Evidence Against Authenticity
According to Robert Hogan, PhD, founder and president at Hogan Assessments, “Authenticity is a myth.” In popular culture, the notion of authenticity is related to expressing your true feelings or true self. By that account, only infants are truly authentic, acting exactly how they feel. As we mature, we learn to avoid letting our emotions control us; we learn to be less authentic.
If you feel angry at work, you could scream, stomp, or send a sharply worded email to your client. This kind of behavior might be authentic, but it is certainly inadvisable. “When we resist doing those things, we are being inauthentic,” Ryne explained. “We’re not responding in a way that is consistent with our true feelings.”
That’s a good thing.
Social Desirability
If authenticity isn’t so great, why do people think it makes us happier? The evidence certainly doesn’t prove this assumption. Ryne conducted a study using personality assessment data to evaluate the relationship between how people acted and how happy and authentic they felt. “The hypothesis was that if you were displaying the behaviors that aligned with your personality, you should report feeling the most authentic,” he said.
That’s not what happened. Ryne explained: “There was no association between acting consistent with your personality and feeling happy. When people were acting most like themselves, they didn’t report being authentic at all.”
So, when did the research participants say they felt most authentic and happy? It was when they were acting in a socially desirable way: friendly, agreeable, productive, creative, and mindful. “They acted in a way that they thought of as ‘best,’ but not necessarily how they typically act,” Ryne said.
Problems with Authenticity at Work
Commonplace advice on authenticity doesn’t support career development. In an interview, for instance, you really shouldn’t be yourself. Perhaps you would typically make self-deprecating jokes, but that isn’t likely to be beneficial. Instead of your true self, be your best professional self.
Ryne identified three areas where authenticity at work can cause pitfalls: (1) professionalism, (2) interpersonal conflict, and (3) career development.
Professionalism
Whenever people aren’t monitoring their behavior, potentially negative tendencies are more likely to emerge. If someone is stressed or under pressure, or if they are feeling bored and complacent, they might act with more authenticity than they should. (Every HR director has heard bad behavior excused with the claim “I was just being myself” or “That’s just who I am.”) Letting professionalism slip can harm anyone’s career success.
Interpersonal Conflict
Authenticity at work can also cause unnecessary personal conflict. Theoretically, an authentic person would always say and do things driven by emotion. But complaining, name-calling, or other immature behavior doesn’t tend to foster workplace harmony. It does, however, tend to derail teams.
Career Development
“Our authentic way of behaving leads us astray,” Ryne said. That means we shouldn’t necessarily share every wild idea, ignore conflict, or show a grumpy expression.
Blake told a true story of someone whose authenticity was holding back their career advancement. The person had a blunt and reserved communication style. They received the feedback that seeming less direct, more collaborative, and more agreeable would improve their performance. (Notice that the suggested changes relate to socially desirable behavior.) Within a year of consistent, intentional behavioral change, they received a very positive review with a pay raise. They also said they felt happier in all areas of life.
The moral? Being pleasant, even when it’s not authentic, can go a long way in your career development.
Authenticity Versus Strategic Self-Awareness
At Hogan, we value strategic self-awareness, which contrasts with authenticity. Strategic self-awareness is the degree to which we understand our strengths and limitations and how others see us in any competitive endeavor. When we change our behavior to do better at work, that’s not lying or faking—that’s development. That’s growth.
“Think about how you want to be perceived,” Ryne said. “Think about the appropriate behavior given the workplace circumstances. Adapt to those expectations in the environment that you’re in.”
Being authentic at work means doing whatever you want to do without regard for others. Not good! Having strategic self-awareness means acting for the collective benefit of yourself, your colleagues, and your organization. There’s no need to misrepresent yourself or abandon your core beliefs. But do aim to be appropriately professional for the context.
How Personality Assessments Help
It can be hard to stop sabotaging your own career development if you don’t know what you’re doing wrong. “Personality assessments can help you understand how some behavior might result in a negative reputational impact,” Ryne said. At Hogan, we measure personality using three assessments:
- The Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI) measures the bright side of personality, or how we tend to behave when we’re at our best.
- The Hogan Development Survey (HDS) measures the dark side of personality, or how we tend to behave when we aren’t self-monitoring.
- The Motives, Values, Preferences, Inventory (MVPI) measures the inside of personality, or the values and beliefs that motivate how we tend to behave.
Authenticity is typically behind the emergence of dark-side behaviors. Learning about dark-side tendencies can help you recognize and manage the dark side properly.
You might not even be aware of how your dark side activates. To start, take a detailed look at your reputation data. Get feedback from a Hogan-certified practitioner, and then—this is critical—accept the feedback. “Learn to intervene with yourself and say, ‘Wait a minute, I’m not going to do what I always do here. I’m going to do something different,’” Ryne said.
Listen to this conversation in full on episode 125 of The Science of Personality. Never miss an episode by following us anywhere you get podcasts. Cheers, everybody!