Führung: „Die besten Chefs sind Meister der strategischen Natürlichkeit“

Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, a professor at University College London, criticizes the phrase "Be yourself" often used in companies as a cultural promise. He argues that such an approach is unprofessional and not feasible in everyday life. Successful individuals control which version of themselves they present depending on the context, goal, and the person they are interacting with.

Emotional intelligence is a key factor for success in job roles. Emotional intelligence means understanding how our behavior affects others and consciously steering our impact to enable collaboration and achieve goals. Leaders are essentially role-playing, and the question is whether they play it consciously and professionally. The best leaders are masters of strategic naturalness, appearing authentic without being artificial.

An example from the leadership world could be a manager's reaction to a team member presenting a result after long work hours. A direct and genuine response might be, "That's not possible," which could demotivate the colleague. Praise for the result reflexively as "great" could make the manager seem disingenuous. The right response would be something like, "I see how much effort went into this.

There are a couple of points we need to improve - let's go through them together." The crucial difference is that they generate trust through clear feedback that empowers others to act, rather than through raw honesty. The boundary is not how authentic someone feels, but whether others perceive them as authentic. Authenticity in leadership also means separating reaction from reaction and not reacting impulsively, which can lead to losing authority.

To train self-control, one should learn from past experiences, such as delaying responses to emails that provoke strong emotions. This approach can help leaders maintain their effectiveness and be perceived as reliable.