| We’ve all met that leader … polished, articulate, ticking every box on the corporate checklist and … utterly forgettable. They follow the handbook but miss the heartbeat.
People don’t want, nor will they follow, perfection. They want connection, truth, authenticity and dare I say it, the odd mistake – owned up to.
Work is messy and pretending otherwise is denial. And when things are messy, teams need more than a slick presentation with vision statements and KPIs. It’s why we have the phrase “their honesty was so refreshing”. It’s clear (and sad) that we’re just not used to it.
What people are looking for are leaders who are bold enough to be clear, honest enough to be human, and smart enough to know that authority is not weakened by humour and heart, it’s strengthened by it.
The problem with performative leadership
For too long, we’ve rewarded leaders for control and composure. I see it every day in workshops: leaders navigating complexity with incredible skill but struggling to make space for real conversations. We’ve mistaken professionalism for performance and as a result, we have leaders who know how to fill a room but not feel a room.
This legacy belief we’ve been dragging around forever says feelings don’t belong at work. None of us are robots and we all bring stories, stumbles, and scars to work. Hiding them doesn’t help it just builds friction and fosters mistrust.
So, tell me what they want, what they really, really want
Employees and teams are seeking:
- Present over perfect – showing up warts and all builds more trust and connection than any slick and polished PowerPoint presentation.
- Story over strategy – slides don’t move people; relatable and real stories do.
- Humour over heavy – because work is way too important to take so seriously.
Finally, people are desperate for leaders to have the willingness to own their mistakes instead of masking them.
Don’t take my word for it
There’s science behind this. When leaders share vulnerably and speak plainly, they create psychological safety. “It’s okay to be human here.” This has been proven time and time again in the work of Dr Amy Edmonson.
Brene Brown’s work on vulnerability shows that leaders who lean into real connection, build stronger, more resilient teams. Harvard Business Review’s study on “The Power of Small Wins” highlights how every day, human moments, like storytelling or shared laughter, boost motivation and performance.
And Daniel Kahneman’s research into behavioural economics reinforces what many of us know intuitively: people don’t make decisions based on logic alone, they’re driven by emotion, context, and trust, all of which grow when leaders show up as real humans, not polished avatars.
Subtract the noise, amplify the impact
In every keynote I give and workshop I lead, I ask one powerful question: What's getting in your way? Whether it's a bloated process, a stale leadership style, or an outdated belief about what it means to be "professional", the first step is subtraction.
We need to make space to make change.
Leaders don’t need another retreat, presentation or 2-day workshop filled with a pile of leadership tools. They need the space to make some decisions about removing what no longer serves, so they can speak with more presence, act with more purpose, and lead with more impact.
Stop performing leadership and start living it.
Cheers
D
p.s.
If your leadership team is ready for a reset, I've got stories to tell and strategies that stick. I work with forward-thinking organisations who want more than a motivational speaker, they want a shift in how leaders show up.
Donna McGeorge
e d@donnamcgeorge.com
w www.donnamcgeorge.com
m +61 403 308 933 |
