Steve LowiszFounder of Guide, Don’t Drive™ Leadership | Keynote Speaker |

Stop Telling Leaders to Be Authentic

8 May 2026 · 1 min

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1:18

In this concise monologue, speaker Steve Lowisz challenges the popular leadership mantra to "be authentic." He argues that unfiltered authenticity often translates into emotional volatility—frustration, snapping, or reactive decisions presented as "being real." According to Lowisz, effective leadership requires disciplined, governed responses rather than raw, personal reactions. He distinguishes between authenticity without discipline (which he deems harmful to teams) and authenticity that is coupled with self‑control. The speaker concludes that while the advice to be authentic may be popular, it is fundamentally misguided for leaders who must prioritize disciplined behavior over personal expression.

Chapters

We need to stop telling leaders to be authentic. It's some of the worst advice that we continue to share. And before you freak out and start adding a bunch of nasty comments, listen to the context of the rest of this video. See, being authentic in practice means, hey, you know what, act however you feel and you can do it under the guise of leadership. Frustrated? Yeah. It's authentic. Snapped at somebody? Look, I'm just being real. Reactive decision? That's just who I am. No, that's emotional volatility with a personal brand. See, leadership is not being your most natural self. It's actually being your most disciplined self. Your team does not need your authentic reaction nor my authentic reaction. They need our governed response. And those are two very different things. See, authentic— authenticity without discipline is just emotional volatility that people end up having to work around. This may not be popular, but if you really think it through, it's the truth.