I had to let my FB community manager go this month. Not that he was doing a bad job. He was doing an EXCELLENT job. In fact, I got compliments from people all the time about my FB content and posts.  

The problem is. It wasn’t me.

I have about 6500 FB followers and about 2700 on LinkedIn. 

I don’t understand Instagram (yes, I’m THAT old) and I’m not a big Twitter fan so FB and LinkedIn are my social media platforms.

My business depends on fans, followers, and likes. My social media community is important. So, I hired a community manager to help me. He managed FB and I managed LinkedIn. For me, LinkedIn feels more like my natural habitat. 

As I would read the posts that Marko posted on FB I was always impressed. He responded to every single comment within five minutes. He encouraged people in their trials and rejoiced in their wins. He never once missed a comment. It could be 2:30am and someone would post and within seconds Marko responded.

And, he did it all as me. I kept thinking to myself –

“I’m not that nice.” I mean, I’m not awful. But, I’m not the person who is going to be on FB at 2:30am to encourage an upset follower. Nope, I’m asleep by 10. Marko, he was the guy doing that. 

I had to come to terms with that fact that my brand of coaching requires authenticity. In fact, in my employee engagement system CARE to Engage the A is for AUTHENTICITY. 

Looking at Marko’s amazing posts and comments didn’t feel very authentic. So, I had to let him go. I decided that I would rather interact fewer times a day as myself …than to interact every two minutes using a surrogate. 

As leaders, it’s our job to show up as the highest versions of ourselves every day. And sometimes we get busy and we lose sight of who we are. We make the wrong choice.

I’m not a person who has someone else stand in for me. I became too busy to remember that. 

As a “note to self” I pulled together five tips on increasing authenticity. In retrospect, I should have called it tips to remembering your authenticity. But either way, I hope you find them helpful too. 

5 Tips For Being More Authentic

1. Take the time to rediscover your own core values. I’m all about core values. Not the global nicety kind, but the real, reason to get out of bed kind. And a core value of mine is to serve others the best way that I can. 

It took self-reflection to realize why I felt “icky” about having a community manager. Having Marko stand in for me was crushing that value. I wasn’t serving others. He was doing it in my name. 

2. Don’t be afraid to show your imperfections. Authenticity allows you to be real. No one is perfect. Today that’s even more difficult to believe because of social media. How many millionaire perfect people with beautiful families, and perfect kids do we need to see before we begin to feel inadequate?

You’re not inadequate. You’re perfect as you are. Well, you’re imperfect as you are, but that’s the part that makes you special..

3. Let people know what you stand for, which side of the fence you’re on. There is nothing worse than wishy washy. Stand up for what you believe in. If there’s a decision to make, make it. It’s not a popularity contest. Speak your truth. Even if you tick someone off, you’ll gain their respect in the long run. 

4. Accept that there will always be people who don’t like you. Wayne Dyer always said that other people’s opinions of you are none of your business. That’s one of the hardest life lessons to learn, but once you do..it is so freeing. 

Live life so that your own opinion of you remains high. And don’t be seduced by the opinions of others. 

5. Share personal stories, let people get to know you. People like to do business (and work) with people they know, like, and trust. Sharing parts of your life will help you build that trust. It helps people see you as more than a leader or a boss. They see you as a human being.  

As leaders we all aspire to be authentic. We need to remind ourselves what that means. For me, it means I fired a community manager. What does it mean for you?

Cynthia Corsetti is an Executive Coach and Speaker. If you’d like to learn more on how her C.A.R.E. to Engage system can help you create an engaged workforce in your organization, you can email her at: [email protected]

PS..I’m an open networker and I love to connect. Please join me over on LinkedIn and FB so we can take this journey together!