Admiration is the highest coin in t

Admiration is the highest coin in the realm. We will do anything to be admired and the loss of authenticity seems a small price to pay, especially when you don’t even notice that you are being inauthentic and even if you did, are unaware that being inauthentic costs you being whole and complete as a person.
We also all want to be seen by our colleagues as being loyal, protesting that loyalty is a virtue even in situations where the truth is that we are acting “loyal” solely to avoid the loss of admiration. And, in such situations, how ready we are to sacrifice our authenticity to maintain the pretense of being loyal, when the truth is that we are “being loyal” only because we fear losing the admiration of our colleagues.
In addition, most of us have a pathetic need for looking good, and almost none of us is willing to confront just how much we care about looking good – even to the extent of the silliness of pretending to have followed and understood something when we haven’t. And by the way, looking good does not look good.
Just the threat of looking bad (wrong, stupid, irrational, naïve, silly, etc.), for most of us destroys even the possibility of being authentic. The need to avoid the embarrassment or humiliation we imagine to be the result of looking bad leaves us defensive, posturing, or petulant (childishly sulking or bad-tempered). And by the way, being defensive, posturing, or petulant does not look good.This being inauthentic about being wrong, etc., like any inauthenticity, costs us the power required to be a leader and to exercise leadership effectively. If you’re going to be a leader, you need the courage to be straight when you’re wrong, stupid, irrational, naïve, silly, etc. – and you will be