How to Be Authentic in Your Business

Have you ever toiled over ‘blurring the lines’ between being the boss, a professional business owner, a friend, or just being yourself? Follow our 5 tips on how to lead authentically in your business.

In this day and age, it is becoming universally accepted to be a blend of all 4 of these things, but so many people are still not ‘leaning in’ to this concept.


In my experience over the last four years of building my business coaching business, being authentic is what has made my personal brand and business. From my client’s perspective, the more ‘true to themselves’ they have become, the more fulfilling running their business is.

Here are 5 tips on how to lead authentically in your business:

Tip #1: Remove the evil ‘shoulds’ from your vocabulary

Do you ever hear yourself say ‘gee I should be more professional’ or ‘I should really work with ‘xyz’ type of client’ or ‘I shouldn’t be so relaxed with my staff’ – the list probably goes on, right?

If you are ‘shoulding’ yourself to death, this is a sure sign you are not being authentic to who you really are as a person or as a business owner. So, each time you catch yourself going into ‘should’ mode – ask yourself a simple question – ‘Is this decision I am about to make true to the person I actually am?’
If the answer is no, then don’t do it. Don’t go down that path. Listen to your gut; it is always trying to tell you something – which leads me to tip #2.

Tip #2: Go with your gut

No, this is not a ‘woo-woo’ out-there concept; it is a part of business ownership that too many people try to ‘be above’ and then fail themselves miserably. I want you to think about a time when something went pear-shaped in your business. A decision you made that didn’t go well. Then, I want you to go back to before you made that decision. Did your ‘gut’ tell you it might not workout or that it was a bad idea? I guarantee it did. It was your 6th sense screaming at you, ‘don’t go down that path’, and you ignored it. Please don’t do it next time because you will only prove yourself right. Listen to this intuitive part of yourself – it is never wrong. I mean never.

Tip #3: What got you here won’t get you there

If you want to go next level in your business and you are wondering what the barrier you are facing is in getting to the next level, it will likely be because you are not being authentic. You are not making authentic decisions; you are not being authentic in your personality; you are not believing in what you want to build or what you know in your heart of hearts you are capable of. You are denying yourself successes more incredible than you ever dreamed simply because you are not living/breathing/doing business authentically. So, it is time to wake up and start being YOU. You will put a ceiling over your head from the success perspective until you begin to truly buy into project ‘be authentically me’.

Tip #4: Just do you; the rest will follow

This is my mantra. I even have magnets with this on them I give out to people. This is because it serves me very well. I also know it will serve you well. Because who you are is perfect. You are already a 10/10, and you need to start to believe that. I am far from what you would call ‘a traditional business coach’. But I know that is what has helped me to get to where I am. I swear I am very forward in my approach. I am a lot of things that many people looking for a business coach would run 10 miles away from at a rate of knots – but I amok with that. I am unapologetically me – and that is what you need to be too. If you are being yourself and genuinely looking to support and assist your clients/customers in your own way, you cannot go wrong. The right people will follow you, buy from you, work for you and rave about you to everyone they meet. Those people are your people. Not the people who naysay. Not the people who will run you down. You don’t want or need their business or to have them in your business anyway if you think about it. They are just a headache. Aren’t they!?

Tip #5: Stop selling yourself to the devils

When I say ‘devils’, I mean terrible clients and terrible staff. Working for bad clients is not leading authentically in business – it is selling out. Recruiting people and retaining them because ‘they are good at their tasks’ is not the right reason to have them on your team. If their values don’t align with yours, they never will so stop clinging to hope that they might get better one day. They won’t. They will steal your time with your family, steal your sleep, steal your money out of your pocket, and they will steal your happiness and your love for your business. If you are dealing with ‘devils’ in your business, you are not being authentic to yourself – so stop it. You are selling your soul, and that is not an authentic business. Not one bit. Sack them. Sack those clients and staff now. The relief will be amazing. Get back to being the business owner you truly need to be. Your authentic self begs you to do it.

If you recognise yourself in any of these tips, you likely need to do some real digging into who your authentic self is in the context of business. You are probably exhausted from trying to be somebody you are not. It’s also probable that your business is not half of what it could be because you have been using the BS approach of ‘fake it until you make it’. Fake it until you make it is not a strategy; it is a highway to burnout. Authenticity in business ownership is your only ticket to running a fulfilling, prosperous business. So now you know this, what will you be doing to live a more authentic business life this week and for the rest of time? I’d love to hear your thoughts– hit us up at heythere@ladieswithtradies.com

 Want to be a better leader in your business? Read our 5 keys to Successfully Leading a Team of Tradies

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