Good Examples of Authenticity

I talk a lot about the importance of presenting an honest version of yourself in sales. If people believe that you are being honest about who you are, they are more likely to put more weight into what you say. It has actually been demonstrated that there is a real science behind this and that specific hormones are released during authentic interactions that breed attraction and trust. All this to say, authenticity is more important than ever – especially in the age of artificial intelligence where it is becoming increasingly difficult to ascertain what is real and what is not.

Something interesting about authenticity is that it does not mean someone is likeable, good, or even morally upstanding. Indeed, people can be authentically unlikable, bad, and ill-mannered. Irrespective of where they fall on the spectrum, I still argue that the inherent trait of authenticity remains attractive because it makes such people more believable when they say anything.

With that being said, who are some of the best examples of authentic people? A few come to mind.

My favorite example to give has always been Dennis Rodman. This one is a bit controversial because Rodman was an adulterer with an estranged daughter who lived a strange and exotic lifestyle. He is also the best friend of a North Korean dictator who has caused harm to millions of people. As I said before, authenticity does not necessarily equal beacon of morality.

However, Rodman is authentically a very strange person. In other words, he is not acting or faking it. If you have ever seen the documentary about Rodman, he comes from a difficult upbringing and was oft-misunderstood. Though it seemed theatrical for him to get married in a wedding dress in New York City, for him it was just something he wanted to do.

Former NBA player Kevin Garnett talks about how one time, Rodman wore combat boots running on a treadmill after a game talking smack to him for about an hour. Everything about this was strange. But it perfectly defined who Rodman was. While most people would agree that being friends with Kim Jong Un is frowned upon, we also need to ask ourselves why Rodman is the only person in the United States that he trusts. I posit that it has something to do with believing that Rodman means what he says. Though Rodman did not have nearly half the basketball talent as Michael Jordan, he did have half the limelight in the 90s. That speaks to the way that his authenticity touched people – even if they did not like him.

Another example I like to give about authenticity is Bernie Sanders. I do not like to give political examples because they are polarizing and sometimes readers assume what my politics would be. Let me just say that I usually disagree with anything Bernie Sanders has to say. That being said, he has been saying the same thing for a million years. In the world of politics, this is particularly rare. Most members of the Congress and Senate flip-flop positions as time goes by in order to maintain their positions of standing. Though he is revolutionary, Sanders has had the same revolutionary message since the beginning of his career.

Evidence of this came after the inauguration of Joe Biden in 2021. It was very cold on inauguration day and Sanders was caught in a photo tucking his face into his jacket and crossing his arms. Despite the fact that his candidate had just been elected, it was not enough for this curmudgeon-y old revolutionary who is always pushing the envelope. And so Bernie crossing his arms became an internet meme that was shared widely. Even Joe Rogan posted a Bernie crossed-arms meme pretending that Sanders was an MMA fighter tapping someone out with an armbar. The only reason any of this is funny is because Sanders is a prototypical old guy who can never be satisfied. That is authentically who he is.

Speaking of curmudgeon-y old men, Larry David is another one who comes to mind. In his show Curb Your Enthusiasm, he plays a version of himself who always seems to say the wrong thing at the wrong time. This only occurs because Larry is incapable of keeping his thoughts to himself and he insists on telling people what is on his mind. These thoughts are often inappropriate or socially awkward and they get him in all sorts of trouble. So you cannot deny that if Larry David says something, he probably means what he says. Whether you like him or not, the absolute definition of his character is someone who is authentically (and brutally) honest.

The last example I will give is someone few readers will know, and that was my former wrestling coach and teacher, Steve Ward. In a school of very serious people where about 20% of the graduating class went to Harvard, he had a way of helping very precocious kids to take themselves much less seriously. Wrestling is also a serious sport, and yet he found ways to take the gravity out of it all. He did this by being honest about what was going on, usually through sarcasm.

For example, a match you had no chance of winning was called “a bag of sticks match.” The rationale was that if a snake was choking you to death, you should break a bag of sticks so that the snake would loosen its grip, mistakenly thinking it had broken your bones. It’s a little graphic, but this very blunt and direct way of telling his wrestlers to just let go of the outcome was one of the most authentic things I have ever seen from a leader.