1.1.11.4. Harvard Business Review Article

Herminia Ibarra — “The Authenticity Paradox” (Harvard Business Review, Jan–Feb 2015)

In this article, Herminia Ibarra challenges a common leadership ideal: the belief that being “authentic” means always acting in perfect alignment with your current self, your familiar style, and your longstanding preferences. She argues that this view of authenticity can actually block growth. If we cling too tightly to a narrow, past-based version of who we are, we limit our ability to experiment with new leadership behaviors — especially in roles that demand greater scope, visibility, and responsibility.

For entrepreneurs, this insight is critical. Building and scaling a venture often requires acting outside your comfort zone: speaking with greater authority, making bolder decisions, and representing your vision to investors, partners, and teams. If you interpret every new behavior as “fake” simply because it does not match your old identity, you will struggle to grow into the leader your business needs. Ibarra reframes authenticity not as rigid consistency with the past, but as a dynamic process of becoming.

As you read “The Authenticity Paradox,” pay attention to how Ibarra describes:

• The tension between staying true to yourself and stretching into new roles.
• Why early-stage leaders often use “authenticity” as a justification for avoiding uncomfortable but necessary behavior.
• How deliberate experimentation with new styles and behaviors helps you develop a broader, more capable version of yourself.

Ibarra’s core message aligns directly with this lesson: your current identity is not the final reference point for how you must show up as a leader. To grow, you will sometimes feel inauthentic in the short term — not because you are being dishonest, but because you are operating ahead of your old self-concept. This is a normal and necessary part of entrepreneurial identity evolution.

Post-reading application

After reading the article, complete the following three steps:

1. Identify your “authenticity traps”.
   Write down one or two situations where you have said or thought something like: “That’s just not me,” “I don’t talk like that,” or “I’m not that kind of leader” — and used it as a reason to avoid a behavior that might actually be useful (public speaking, decisive feedback, negotiation, networking, etc.).
2. Design one leadership experiment.
   Choose one behavior that feels slightly beyond your comfort zone but is aligned with the leader you are becoming (for example: leading a difficult conversation, stating a clear vision in a meeting, setting firmer boundaries, or making a decision without over-explaining). Define when and where you will try this behavior in the next five to seven days.
3. Reflect on the outcome.
   After you act, document what happened: How did you feel before, during, and after? What worked better than expected? What felt awkward but useful? How did others respond? This reflection converts one experiment into identity data — evidence that you can operate at a broader level than your old self-concept allowed.

Remember: you are not abandoning authenticity — you are expanding it. Each deliberate experiment adds new range to your leadership identity, making you more capable of navigating the complex, high-visibility situations that entrepreneurship will consistently place in front of you.