Last week I had an epiphany, something that will change the scope of this blog for 2018. I don't want to go over the entire thing again since I wrote about it on LinkedIn but I'll give a short synopsis before pushing forward.

family authenticity
doesn't get more
authentic than this

In essence, I read an article by a woman saying that she tried doing everything the "right" way for decades and none of it seemed to work. The right way was following boundaries that other set as the norm, boundaries that would eventually lead to promotions, wealth and success. None of it worked and all she got was depressed. Once she decided to be her authentic self things took off, she was happy, and now she runs her own company.

I already run my own company but I won't call myself a success. I've had some fabulous years, but I've also had some pretty bad years. I've written books and articles on leadership, and I've written here on leadership, diversity, health care and the lot. I've always told the truth "my way", but in looking back at a lot of it I'm not sure how authentic it's been.

We've seen the worst of leadership in 2017. From politics to entertainment, from business to education, it's been a horrible morass of perfidy, lies and bad behavior. That I've seen even a bit of it, as someone who stopped watching and reading the news on purpose years ago, shows me just how bad it's been.

Yet, to avoid controversy I've touched upon these things with kid gloves. I haven't named names and I've danced around the disgusting behavior by allusion instead of accusation. Even in my article when I addressed why a former Google engineer deserved to be fired I never mentioned his name, even though it was everywhere (his name was James Damore).

The truth is twofold, and explains why it's time to be more authentic and not worry about potential controversy anymore.

The first truth is that leadership across the world is getting worse every day. When I wrote my first book on leadership I'd found a statistic saying more than 85% of hired leaders had never led anything else in their lives. If I could find such a stat now (I tried) I'm betting that number's gone higher.

Diversity initiatives are getting worse also. How many black people can keep getting killed and being let off by white juries? How many more women need to come forward and own up to being seriously sexual harassed before such behavior ends? How many more LBGT, disabled and those with mental health issues need to be ignored as if they don't exist before those with the power and money realize it's time to take care of its citizens?

It's pathetic; that a Roy Moore can be accused of being a sexual predator of young girls (with proof) can barely lose an election in Alabama while being supported by phonies who proclaim how religious they are, how much they care about families and the decency of themselves is appalling. That I said nothing anywhere, even though I shared a lot of information leading up to the election, is inexcusable.

The second truth is that even if I'd said something, it's probable that few people would have seen it. In February this blog hits 13 years, and it's not even my 2nd most visited blog. My articles on LinkedIn get almost no views; same with my Facebook business postings. A quote from the woman in the first article I linked to, Nikki Barua, is illuminating:

"You can't change hearts, minds and attitudes, if you are invisible."

I'm now 58; if I don't start pushing some boundaries and start being more real, I'm going to run out of time while trying to make my little piece of the world better. We need better leaders; that's one of my goals. We need hospitals to be in better financial positions; that's another of my goals. We need the world (but I'll take the United States) to be more open to those who aren't like them and give everyone the opportunity to succeed (yes, I'm talking about privilege; I was quite authentic here...).

I need to be better. I need to be happy. I need to be visible. I need to be more authentic.

I'm not the only one but I can only control "me". Watch me in 2018; it's going to get real! 🙂