Why "Authentic Leadership" Fails (And What To Do Instead)
- Brandy Stamper
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
The advice to "just be authentic" is everywhere. It sounds simple and freeing, but for many leaders, it creates confusion and stress. Business owners, executives, and team leaders often feel stuck trying to guess which version of themselves to show. Should they be the empathetic listener, the visionary driver, or the steady hand? Without clear guidance, this struggle leads to exhaustion and burnout. This post explains why the popular idea of authentic leadership often fails and offers a better way to lead that fits your unique strengths.
The Myth of the "Authentic" Leadership
If you scroll through LinkedIn or browse the business section of any bookstore, you will inevitably hit a wall of advice telling you to "just be authentic."
On the surface, it sounds like permission. It sounds like relief. But for the high-performance leaders I coach—Owners scaling their second company, Executives managing merger acquisitions, Founders navigating exits—this advice often feels like a trap.
Why? Because "authenticity" without clarity is just chaos.
Most leaders don’t actually know which version of themselves to be. Should you be the empathetic listener? The visionary driver? The steady hand? When you try to be "authentic" by guessing what your team needs, you aren't leading from a place of power; you are performing.
And that performance is the #1 cause of the silent epidemic in the C-Suite: energetic bankruptcy.
It is time to retire the vague concept of "Authentic Leadership" and replace it with something measurable, diagnostic, and sustainable: Leadership by Design.
The Problem: Running New Software on Old Hardware
Think of your leadership capacity like a computer system. You have an "Operating System" (OS)—your innate energetic blueprint.
The problem arises when you try to run an application that is incompatible with your OS.
You might be designed to be a Visionary Guide, but you are forcing yourself to work 12-hour days as a Tactical Implementer because that’s how you built the company.
You might be designed to respond to problems as they arise, but you are forcing yourself to initiate new strategies every Monday morning because you think that’s what a CEO "should" do.
This mismatch creates friction. In your business, this friction looks like stalled projects, high turnover, and decision fatigue. In your body, it looks like burnout.
Beyond Personality Tests: A Diagnostic Approach
To fix this, we need to move beyond standard personality assessments. While tools like Myers-Briggs (MBTI) or DiSC are useful for communication styles, they often fail to address the energetics of leadership. They tell you how you prefer to talk, but they don't tell you how you should make decisions or manage your energy.
In my coaching practice, I utilize two core diagnostic frameworks to map a leader's Operating System: Human Design and the Enneagram.
When applied to business, these aren't just "personality tests." They are risk management tools.
1. Human Design: Your Energy Management System
Human Design reveals how you are wired to exchange energy with the world. It answers the question: How do I work without burning out?
For example, in the Human Design system, leaders generally fall into broader "Types" that dictate their best workflow:
The Initiators (Manifestors): These leaders are designed to inform and act. When they try to ask for permission or wait for consensus, they get angry and their teams get confused.
The Builders/Dynamic Builders (Generators/Manifesting Generators): These leaders have the sustainable energy to build and do. When they try to step back and "just manage" without getting their hands dirty, they often feel frustrated and stuck.
The Guides (Projectors): These leaders are not here to "do" the work; they are here to direct the work. When they try to keep up with the 9-to-5 hustle of the Builders, they suffer rapid burnout.
2. The Enneagram: Your Motivation System
The Enneagram reveals the core motivations and fears driving your behavior. It answers the question: Why do I do what I do?
A leader might be driving their team into the ground.
If they are an Enneagram 3 (The Achiever), they might be doing it out of a fear of failure or a need to validate their worth through metrics.
If they are an Enneagram 8 (The Challenger), they might be doing it to maintain control and prevent vulnerability.
The behavior is the same, but the solution is completely different.
3 Signs You Are Leading Against Your Design
How do you know if you are operating against your blueprint? The symptoms are rarely subtle.
1. Success feels draining, not energizing. You hit the revenue goal, you closed the deal, you got the promotion—and instead of feeling satisfied, you feel nothing but exhaustion. If "winning" feels heavy, you are winning using someone else's playbook.
2. You are the bottleneck. If your team cannot move without you, or if you feel like you have to micromanage the details to ensure quality, you likely haven't aligned your delegation plan with your design. You are holding onto energy that isn't yours to carry.
3. Decision fatigue is your baseline. Leaders are decision-making engines. If you dread making choices, or if you find yourself second-guessing every email, your internal guidance system is offline. Correctly aligned leaders make big decisions quickly and with conviction because they know their specific decision-making authority.
The ROI of Leadership By Design
When you shift from generic "authenticity" to specific "precision," the metrics change.
For the Owner: You reclaim hours in your day. You stop doing the $50/hour work and focus entirely on the $5,000/hour strategic vision.
For the Executive: Your communication becomes surgical. You stop over-explaining and start directing. Your team trusts you more because you are consistent.
For the Organization: The culture settles. When a leader is calm and coherent, the team regulates. "Crisis mode" stops being the default setting.
Your Next Step: Define Your Signature Initiative
The goal of understanding your design isn't just self-care; it's impact.
Once you know your Operating System, you stop wasting energy on friction. You can finally channel that resources toward what I call your Signature Initiative—the legacy-level project or strategic shift that only you can lead.
Authentic leadership isn't about "being yourself." It's about being the leader your business needs you to be, in the way only you can deliver.
Ready to diagnose your leadership operating system?
True clarity doesn't come from a blog post; it comes from deep, diagnostic work.
I work with a select group of Owners and Executives to build their Signature Initiative and Strategic Visibility Plans. I
f you are ready to stop guessing and start leading by design, let’s have a conversation.
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