Leadership and Authenticity
Leadership and Authenticity
Transcript
You want to be the person you really are. It's too exhausting to present yourself in a false-- in a false way to a group that's then counting on the false version of you to come through-- to come through in a clinch, right? Like, I mean, you really-- you want the real you. And even if the real you is problematic, at least-- at least you're dealing with that.
So you want to be authentic. And you want to be good at something. I mean, we want to be-- we need to be valued. If you're not valued, your status in the group is not safe. And then that means you're in danger.
And of course, finally, you want to take your authenticity and your effectiveness and you want it to be connected to other people. We're social primates. We're a social species. We exist-- we exist to be part of a group. It's wired-- it's wired into us.
And that feeling of connection is-- it is what feeling good is. In human terms, that's what it means to feel good. And moreover, if you put it in its opposite, the most-- in some ways, the most cruel punishment you can inflict on a person, on an inmate, for example, is solitary confinement.
People can endure physical pain. They can endure all kinds of things, hunger, but they cannot-- what drives them-- literally drives them mad is being alone. That's the end of the-- that's the end of the road for people. So you want to make sure that your actions you are-- you're creating a positive role for yourself in a small group or a large group of people where they value you and you value them.
And again, you don't even need to like each other. It has nothing to do with it. It's about being useful and serving the greater good.
And if you can achieve that, I don't care who you are. I don't care how many crimes you might have committed. I don't care how good a person you were. None of that matters. If you create that, you're living a good life.
So you want to be authentic. And you want to be good at something. I mean, we want to be-- we need to be valued. If you're not valued, your status in the group is not safe. And then that means you're in danger.
And of course, finally, you want to take your authenticity and your effectiveness and you want it to be connected to other people. We're social primates. We're a social species. We exist-- we exist to be part of a group. It's wired-- it's wired into us.
And that feeling of connection is-- it is what feeling good is. In human terms, that's what it means to feel good. And moreover, if you put it in its opposite, the most-- in some ways, the most cruel punishment you can inflict on a person, on an inmate, for example, is solitary confinement.
People can endure physical pain. They can endure all kinds of things, hunger, but they cannot-- what drives them-- literally drives them mad is being alone. That's the end of the-- that's the end of the road for people. So you want to make sure that your actions you are-- you're creating a positive role for yourself in a small group or a large group of people where they value you and you value them.
And again, you don't even need to like each other. It has nothing to do with it. It's about being useful and serving the greater good.
And if you can achieve that, I don't care who you are. I don't care how many crimes you might have committed. I don't care how good a person you were. None of that matters. If you create that, you're living a good life.