Karl Edwards presents Working Matters

Tag: authentic

  • Listen In -> Faking Authenticity #4: When Wanting to Perform

    Are you pretending to be competent?

    Where do you think you got the impression that you needed to appear to be more than you are in order to be effective?

    Could you be making assumptions about leadership, competence, respect and authority that may not be grounded in reality?

    In this week’s show, Claudia and I discuss the temptation to fake authenticity in situations that require us to peform beyond our current skill or experience level.

    You won’t believe how much happier, energetic and effective you will be when you stop trying to be someone you aren’t.

    Listen in.

  • Listen In -> Faking Authenticity #3: When Wanting to Confront

    I don’t know anyone who loves confrontation. Do you?

    Work life, though, is filled with situations where something or someone needs to be confronted.

    Confrontation is one of the most common situations where we feel we need to be someone we’re not.

    We put on a “fake nice” to head off a negative response, or we cop a “fake stern” to show we mean business.

    Could it be we don’t trust how we’ll show up in a complicated situation if we are simply ourselves?

    In this week’s show, Claudia and I look at faking authenticity in situations of confrontation.

    Listen in.

  • Loving Monday: Authentic and Engaged

    Whatever happens this week, you have a choice. You get to choose how you will respond.

    That’s quite a bit of power when you stop to think about it.

    Just knowing we control our own responses is a big relief and a boost of confidence for many of us. It’s a nice reminder to receive every so often.

    So what might that response look like? Some responses are more effective than others. I’m learning that we can experience a certain amount of peace in good circumstances and bad when our responses are authentic and engaged.

    Be ourselves and be involved.

    Sound simple? It is. The situation may not be simple. The series of choices you next need to make may not be simple. But if you can be true to yourself and resist withdrawing, side-stepping or otherwise avoiding the people and challenges that come your way, I promise you will feel much better about both yourself and your work this week.

    On your side,

    – Karl