Leadership Horizons

Authentic Leadership In 2026

• Lois Burton • Episode 45

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The pressure to perform can quietly turn leadership into an exhausting act—polished slides, careful phrasing, and a persona crafted to satisfy what we think others expect. We pull back that curtain and talk honestly about the cost of the mask: depleted energy, eroded trust, and a widening gap between intention and impact. 

As we step into 2026, the leaders who thrive are those who lead as themselves—grounded in values, clear in identity, and courageous when stakes rise. 

We share the recurring fear that haunts senior rooms—what will the board, team, or peers think?—and the liberating practice of testing assumptions with real conversations. 

You’ll hear how one director, brilliant in strategy and empathy, reclaimed her warmth and humor in the boardroom and watched engagement and performance climb. Another executive faced a restructure he disagreed with; by voicing concerns, offering an alternative, and communicating transparently, he preserved integrity and deepened respect even as the decision stood.

From neuroscience insights to step-by-step tactics, we map a practical path to authenticity: pre-meeting checkins to align with your values, one small authentic action each week, and a deliberate approach to build your courage muscle in lower stakes moments before scaling up. We talk about surrounding yourself with truth tellers, coaches, mentors, and peers who reflect the real you and anchoring intentions in identity so your goals express what you stand for. 

The payoff is tangible: psychological safety, stronger trust, better decisions, and teams empowered to bring their full selves. If the mask has been weighing you down, this conversation offers clarity and momentum. 

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Leadership Horizons - Helping You Lead Beyond Boundaries

SPEAKER_00:

Hello and welcome back to Leadership Horizons where we explore leadership, its most transformative. I'm Lois Burton and I've been working with senior leaders and executives for over 25 years now and feel very privileged to do so. My experiences as a coach have taught me that coaching at its core is about helping people become the very best they can be. And that's what drives everything I do. So today I want to talk about something that's directly linked to being the best you can be, and has been coming up again and again in my coaching conversations as we step into 2026. And that's the challenge and the opportunity of becoming more authentic as a leader. Last week we explored setting intentions from your identity as a leader, really getting clear on who you are at your core and what you stand for. If you missed that episode, I'd really encourage you to go back and listen because what we're diving into today builds directly on that foundation. Because here's the thing: knowing who you are is one thing. Actually, being that person consistently, especially when the stakes are high, that's where authentic leadership really shows up. Let me share something I've observed many times. When I ask senior leaders what's holding them back from being fully themselves at work, I hear the same theme over and over again. What will people think? What will the board think? What will my team think? What will my peers think? And underneath all of that worry, it is this exhausting performance, trying to be what we think others expect us to be rather than who we actually are. I remember working with the director, let's call her Freya, who was brilliant, absolutely brilliant at both strategy and empathy. But in every board meeting, she presents herself as this ultra serious buttoned-up executive. No humour, no warmth, no humanity, just facts and figures. And you know what? It wasn't working. Her team found her distant and hard to connect with. Her board valued her competence but didn't fully trust her judgment in the more nuanced human aspects of leadership. When we dug into it, Freya told me that she thought that's what they wanted. A serious leader for serious times. But that wasn't her. The real Freya, warm, funny, deeply caring about her people, but she'd hidden all of that away because she thought that leadership looked different. So here's what I've learned: the cost of inauthenticity is enormous, not just for you personally, though it's exhausting to wear a mask all day, every day, but for your leadership effectiveness. When you're not being yourself, people sense it. They might not be able to put their finger on it, but something feels off. And that creates distance. It erodes trust. It makes it harder for people to really connect with you and your vision. And from a neuroscience perspective, maintaining that facade is depleting your cognitive resources. You're using mental energy to monitor yourself constantly. Am I saying the right thing? Am I coming across the right way? And that's energy you could be using for actual leadership. So, how do we shift this? How do we become more authentic leaders in 2026? First, like to talk about letting go of what you think others think about you. Notice that I said what you think others think, because here's a liberating truth. You don't actually know what they're thinking. You're making it up. Most of us are walking around with these stories in our heads. They want me to be more assertive. They think I'm too emotional. They expect me to have all the answers. But these are often projections, assumptions, old narratives that we picked up somewhere along the way. I invite you to do something radical. Test those assumptions. Have actual conversations. Ask your board, your team, your peers, what they value in your leadership. You might be surprised. Often what people value most is exactly what you've been hiding, your humanity, your unique perspective, your authentic style. The second key is about being more you. And this links directly back to last week's episode about leading from your identity. When you're clear on your core values, those things that are non-negotiable for you, being authentic becomes simpler. Not easier necessarily, but simpler. Because you have a North Star, you know what you stand for. Let me go back to Freya for a moment. Once she gave herself permission to bring her whole self to leadership, everything shifted. She started opening meetings with a personal check-in. She let her sense of humor show. She was honest when she didn't have all the answers. And what happened? Her board engagement scores went up. Her team's performance improved. She told me, I'm actually enjoying my job again. I'm not exhausted from pretending anymore. Being more you doesn't mean sharing everything or having no boundaries. It means letting your genuine style, your real values, your authentic presence show up in how you lead. Well, here's where it gets challenging. Staying true to yourself when the pressure is on, when you're in a high-stakes situation, when taking the authentic path might be uncomfortable or unpopular. And this is where courage comes in. And courage is another of my core coaching values because I believe it's essential for authentic leadership. Authentic leadership requires the courage to say what needs to be said, even when it's difficult. Courage to make decisions that align with your values, even when there's pressure to compromise. Courage to admit when you've made a mistake or when you don't know something. I worked with an executive, let's call him Michael, who was asked to implement a restructure he fundamentally disagreed with. His first instinct was just to execute it, keep his head down, not make any waves. But in our coaching, we explored what staying true to himself would look like. He realized he needed to voice his concerns to the senior team, present an alternative approach, and if that didn't work, be clear with his team about the reasons for the decision and how he was going to support them through it. That took courage. And it didn't change the ultimate decision, but it preserved his integrity and his team respected him more, not less, because he was authentic about the situation. So let me give you some practical strategies for becoming more authentic as a leader in 2026. First, create a regular practice of checking in with yourself. Before that important meeting, before that difficult conversation, pause and ask, what would being fully myself look like right now? What am I tempted to hide or perform and why? Secondly, identify one small way you can be more authentic this week. Maybe it's sharing a bit more of your thinking process in meetings. Maybe it's being honest about a challenge you're facing. Maybe it's letting your natural communication style come through rather than trying to sound like someone else. And thirdly, build your courage muscle. Start with lower stakes situations where being authentic feels a bit uncomfortable but not terrifying. Notice what happens. Usually you'll find that people respond positively to your authenticity, and that gives you confidence to take it into bigger moments. Fourthly, surround yourself with people who see and value the real you. This might be a coach, a mentor, a trusted peer group. People who can reflect back your authentic self, help you to stay connected to who you really are. And remember what we talked about last week. Your intentions must flow from your identity. When your leadership intentions are rooted in who you truly are, staying authentic becomes much more natural. Here's what I know: the most effective leaders I've worked with are the ones who find the courage to be fully themselves. Not perfect, not without flaws, but authentic, real, human. And in 2026, with all the complexity we're facing, with the rapid pace of change, with the challenges ahead, we need authentic leadership more than ever. Because authentic leaders create psychological safety. They inspire trust. They give others permission to bring their full selves to work too. So my invitation to you is this: be brave enough to be you. Let go of the exhausting performance of trying to be what you think others expect. Stay true to yourself, especially in the moments when it's hard. Because the way we led yesterday is not going to lead us into tomorrow. And the future needs your authentic leadership. Thank you so much for joining me today on Leadership Horizons. If this episode resonated with you, I'd love to hear your thoughts. And if you're ready to explore what authentic leadership could look like for you, you can find out more about my coaching at loisburtononline.com. Next week, I'm going to be diving into some reminders about building resilience for the challenges ahead. We're at the beginning of the year and I want to remind you how to put things in place to keep that resilience strong. Until then, remember your authentic leadership is your greatest strength. This is Lois Burton. This has been Leadership Horizons, and I'll see you next week.