To thine own self be true: Three lessons in authentic leadership

Ahenticity is often characterised by the famous quotation from Hamlet, in which Polonius gives the following advice to Laertes:

“This above all: to thine own self be true.

And it must follow, as the night the day,

Thou canst not then be false to any man” – Hamlet, Act I, Scene III

While this might be wise advice to Laertes, it is not universally applicable to leadership. The simple reason is that authenticity ...