A popular piece of advice over the past few years has been to encourage “authentic leadership”. Leaders who are open, vulnerable and say what they really think are lauded.
While the advice may be good, Yuval Noah Harare poses an interesting caveat.
He talks of the space that exists between our thoughts and emotions, and the words that come out of our mouths.
“We can’t control our thoughts but we can control our words - the wider our audience, the greater our position of responsibility and the greater care we should give to what we say”
Our words plant seeds in the minds of others. We should therefore take much greater care of the words that we say.
The wider-reaching banner of “authenticity” has led to many people feeling that it’s right to just say the first thing that comes into our minds.
Since we all experience a full spectrum of thoughts and feelings, is this really what you want to be known for - a stream of unfiltered thoughts and ideas?
Should the weighting of authenticity vs responsibility should lean more towards responsibility?
Yes be authentic, but also be mindful - what seeds might these ideas plant? Is this a good thing you want to share with others?
Might that space between the thought/ feeling and the mouth need some extra time?
Note: the context for Yuval sharing his thinking is in the context of the horrific unfolding events in the Middle East. This clip here is the specific part around authenticity. I highly recommend watching the full interview (for TV in Japan) for what seems to me a very level and thoughtful response to what is happening right now.