Earlier this year, I was facilitating a session on authenticity—a squishy and nebulous term that I had seen used unhelpfully for years. My workshop was well-researched, and I felt prepared, but I still had more than a few misgivings about the topic going into it.
On a lark, as I was putting the session together, I included quotes on authenticity from three very different people. And for reasons unknown, this really section struck a chord with the audience. You could palpably feel the excitement and engagement growing in the room. The session had come alive. The room had come alive. People had a lot to say.
This isn’t an uncommon experience, but it’s always a turning point when I’m presenting something new. I never know when the moment will come, but it’s always a relief when it does. Yes, it felt validating for my experiment to pay off. But the real magic was learning from the audience what authenticity meant to them.
The not-so-secret secret that teachers know is that what looks like the sharing of knowledge is actually them saying, “Here’s something interesting that I’ve learned, what do you think? Is there something interesting here for you?”
There was. There usually is.
Willie Jackson helps teams and organizations find harmony. He brings compassion and levity to the challenging work of