The Beauty in Being Authentic

When I found out I had been selected to participate in the GovLoop Blogger program, I was pleased, excited and slightly puzzled. What was I going to write about that the GovLoop audience would want to read about … every week?

One of the first things I did was look through the website to see what kinds of things other bloggers were talking about and commenting on. I initially saw a lot of articles on big data, cloud procurement and digital networking. Although I enjoyed reading the content, I honestly didn’t know much about these things and I found it really hard to write about them.

I wanted to challenge myself and step out of the box, but I also knew it was important for me to remain true to my experiences in my writing. Whatever that was.

I share this because, I’ve noticed recently more and more news stories involving very high-profile professionals being publically called out for “misrepresenting” themselves.

In all fairness, “misrepresentation” can happen in any industry and at every level for various reasons. Maybe it’s fear, insecurity, competition or none of these reasons.

Perhaps it’s because we’ve allowed our God-given uniqueness to take a back seat to the pursuit of that next great promotion or a few fleeting moments in the spotlight. Who knows?

What I do know is that there is so much beauty in just simply being authentic, whether it’s in your professional or personal life. Authenticity is important because it builds trust, respect and character among both peers and subordinates.

I’m privileged each week to share my voice with other bloggers from all over the world. Together we teach and inspire each other to work, lead and live more effectively. Whether we’re talking cloud computing, project management, HGTV or office romances, we all add our own piece to create a beautiful collaboration.

I’m grateful that I don’t have to pretend to be anything or anyone else to do it.

Dijon N. Rolle is part of the GovLoop Featured Blogger program, where we feature blog posts by government voices from all across the country (and world!). To see more Featured Blogger posts, click here.