Everyone fails at who they pretend to be.
Would you think less of me if I told you I like Celine Dion? Well, I think she’s amazing!
I recently watched a documentary about her residency in Las Vegas. As someone who runs a lot of events, I was genuinely intrigued by the well-run behind-the-scenes operation.
Mrs. Dion, or “Celine,” as she likes me to call her, belts out song after song, never missing a cue. Never. She never gets caught forgetting her lyrics. Night after night, she never misses. But, Celine has a dirty little secret: Some dude backstage is singing along in her earpiece. If she forgets a line, she just listens, and he gets her right back on track.
She’s good. Very good. But she’s not as good as she pretends to be.
She’s no different from the rest of us. We are pretending too.
It’s a show. I’m a show. You’re a show.
We face ourselves in the mirror and practice our expressions. Faking people out is important, because we think if people knew us, the odds are slim they’d love us.
We wait, behind the big velvet curtain, rehearsing our lines. If we fake it just right, the crowd claps. And applause is everything.
But applause is brief.
Dropping the act doesn’t feel like a good option. We’d much rather be actors in our show. We remain imposters in our production. Some of us, more phoney than others.
Compliments, no matter how you get them, are delicious. But if you get them because of cloak and trickery, they only increase the emptiness. You’ll feel worse.
Young leaders, you are not the sum of your Instagram likes. Digital affirmations are low-value, though they feel authentic. You might have noticed, the most convincing junk mail looks real.
When others become our audience, we become susceptible to manipulation and abuse. People begin to have control over us, and others can take advantage of us. And being used usually leads to resentment.
Why not be a little more you? Yes, there’s a chance some people might like you a little less. But, for sure, you will like yourself a whole lot more.