Why authenticity isn’t the same thing as being known. Authenticity is back. Or maybe it never left. Maybe we just forgot what it was supposed to lead to. I keep hearing about it everywhere. In conversations about AI. In leadership discussions. In articles about trust, connection, and workplace culture. The argument usually goes something like…
A conversation with young people changed how I think about AI, trust, and hiding. “AI should be banned.” I didn’t expect that. Recently, I sat down with a group of young people expecting the usual. Curiosity. Excitement. The energy that comes every time some new technology arrives. Instead, disdain. “It doesn’t feel authentic.” “I don’t…
Here’s why we’re not ready. And what has to happen first. Recently, I sat down for breakfast with a senior leader. I was feeling proud of the work I’ve been doing around unhiding and excited to share it. And then they said, as calmly as they could, “I don’t want anyone on my team unhiding…
Over the past few years, more than 1,100 people in my audiences have answered a question I ask when I speak. Many of those answers look like the postcards you see above. What are you hiding? If something came to mind when you read that question, you’re not alone. When I ask it in a…
Can I unhide something to you? I remember thinking, That’s what I do for a living. So… yes. They took a breath. My partner is sick. And I haven’t told anyone. Then they said something I’ll never forget. Because you’ve shared parts of your story, it made me look at what’s been holding me back.…
I thought I invented hiding. I didn’t have language for it. I just had strategies. Tucking part of me away. Blending in. Overcompensating. And I honestly thought I was alone. The only one hiding anything. Then, in a random Walgreens in New York City, I met a woman with the same little hand. We talked…
