What Authenticity In Content Really Means (And A Few Mental Resets To Help You Create Genuinely)

Introduction

Something I hear a lot from founders and senior leaders is this:
"I want people to actually feel good when they see my name online, not roll their eyes and scroll past."

You probably feel the same. You want your posts to do two things at once
make people smile when they see you show up, and quietly support the business you are building.

It can feel like those two aims pull in opposite directions. But they do not have to.

Shifting Your Mindset

What I want to share with you here is not a list of tricks. It is a different way of thinking about how you show up online.

Less "How do I get attention"
More "How do I build real relationships at scale"

We will keep it practical. Think of it as a small toolkit you can use every time you open LinkedIn or any other platform. Simple questions. Simple moves. Things that let you show up in a way you are proud of and that also support the work you care about.

The Thread That Runs Through People We Like

If you think about the people who make you smile online, they almost always have one thing in common.

They make you feel like a real person, not part of a crowd.
They write as if they are talking to you, not broadcasting at you.

The funny thing is, most of us know how to do that in real life. At dinners. In one to one meetings. During hallway chats.

Somewhere between real handshakes and digital hellos, we seem to lose that skill. We step onto social media and suddenly we are "building a brand", and it all gets a bit stiff and strange.

Where It Starts To Go Wrong

A lot of feeds now feel like one long advert.

We post wins. We post highlights. We post calls to action dressed up as "value". Then we wonder why it feels empty and why people do not engage in a real way.

Underneath that is something very human. We are copying what we see.

We see big influencers shouting into the void, so we copy their tone. We see perfect carousels and glossy headshots, so we think "Ah, that must be how it is done."

The truth is, most of us were never meant to be influencers. We are the ones who remember names at networking events. We are the ones who quietly introduce two people who might help each other. Yet when we get online, we can end up as cookie cutter "personal brands" that feel as real as those overused "#grateful" posts on LinkedIn.

A Story From A Conference In Kent

About seven years ago, I was at a packed business conference in Kent. One speaker walked on stage with a bag of multicoloured rubber balls and within minutes had the whole room awake and laughing.

I cannot remember his name now. But I remember how he made us feel.

He told stories that landed with everyone in the room. He spoke about his own mistakes and doubts without turning it into a pity show. His honesty made you feel like you knew him.

He was not there to impress us. He was there to help us see more clearly what we could become.

That is what happens when you put the audience first. You stop performing and start serving.

From Megaphone To Roundtable

I am almost certain that speaker did not grow his following by chasing likes or staging photos at every event. I would be willing to bet that his online posts look more like thoughtful questions and honest reflections than "look at me" moments.

That is the big shift here.

Move from a megaphone to a roundtable.

Instead of shouting
"Look at me!"
you start to ask
"how can we grow together?"

When you do that, people start to feel safe around your content. They are glad to see you show up in their feed. That is where genuine connection and trust begin.

Choosing To Enjoy Being Online

This can be a real turning point if you let it.

You can decide that you are done with posting just to keep up. You can decide that your online presence will be a place where people feel understood, not sold to.

That means
sharing thoughts that feel honest, not polished to death
starting conversations that lower the guard instead of raising it
letting people remember you for the ideas you sparked, not the suit you wore to the big event

Will it support your business? Yes. Because people buy from people they trust. And trust grows faster when your content feels like a human talking, not a brochure shouting.

Stepping Into The Kind Of Leadership You Already Have

Many of you reading this are already natural leaders. You carry weight in rooms. You help people think clearly. You calm things down when there is noise.

You deserve to be on stages, to speak at events, to be seen as an expert in your field.

But that does not come from endless self promotion. It grows almost naturally when you build a body of work that helps people, one post, one article, one video at a time.

The Simple Question That Changes Everything

Before you post anything, pause for ten seconds and ask yourself

"Will this help someone else think differently or feel valued, or am I just trying to look good?"

That one question is a quiet filter.

It asks
How do you want people to feel after they see your name?
Are you there for applause, or to be useful?
Do you want likes, or do you want a real connection that puts a small, honest smile on someone's face?

If you train yourself to run your content through that question, your feed changes. Your audience changes. And your own experience of being online changes with it.

Bringing It All Together

In the end, this is mostly about mindset.

You trade the urge to shout for the choice to sit at the table with people. You stop thinking "How do I look" and start thinking "How can I help" every time you show up online.

Do that, consistently and calmly, and your online presence will start to feel like an extension of who you really are. The kind of person people are genuinely glad to see.

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