You Can’t Reward Conformity and Call It Authenticity
For years, companies have been touting how much they value authenticity. It’s been a corporate buzzword for at least a decade (“storytelling” took its place, but that’s another post for another day).
Before current events in our political landscape, these organizations were clamoring to have diversity statements on their websites, schedule mandatory inclusion trainings, and pat themselves on the back for having ERG groups (with most of them being under-funded and lacking support).All of this was done with a push to encourage people to bring their full selves to work. But what I’ve learned from coaching executive leaders (many of whom are Black women in these spaces), that push was just another song and dance – or, more plainly, another example of how performative corporate culture can be.
You see, when they tried to show up as themselves, it was risky. Unwelcomed. Shut down. What they, and other historically excluded and marginalized people know, is that there’s an invisible script everyone’s expected to follow in corporate America.
(And before you skip to the bottom to type, NOT ALL COMPANIES! in the comments, please save that step. Obviously I know this isn’t true for every company, everywhere. Nor can I speak on behalf of every Black woman, person of color, or other marginalized group. These are simply my reflections borne out of my own personal and professional experiences. Okay…you can carry on reading, now that that’s out of the way.)
Be yourself, but do it in a way that makes everyone comfortable. Turn your music down when you enter the parking garage. Don’t wear such bold patterns and colors. Change your hair – more specifically, straighten it. Leave your ethnic food at home, we don’t want to smell it in the break room.
I could go on, but you get the idea. This is the exhaustive nature of performative culture. It looks good on paper but doesn’t create actual safety or belonging. It’s when “authenticity” is encouraged in company values, but conformity is what gets rewarded.
If your workplace celebrates “bringing your whole self to work” but penalizes anyone who does, that’s performance. If vulnerability is praised in theory but punished in practice, that’s performance.
And if you’re leading people, you need to be honest about this reality. If you’re hiring people, it should come as no surprise why post-pandemic, going back to the office is no-go for many folks.
Performative culture prioritizes optics over action.
And people are tired of it. For many of my clients, it only ramps up the intensity of their burnout.
They come to our coaching sessions unable to recognize themselves, because working in corporate has required only an acceptable version of who they are. When you work in a place that says “be yourself” but only rewards one narrow version of professional, you learn what’s safe to share and what to keep hidden.
That exhaustion doesn’t show up in performance reviews. But it shows up in retention, engagement, and who actually speaks up. The cost of following this invisible script is becoming too high, and their well-being (mental, emotional, and sometimes physical) doesn’t feel like a fair trade for the illusion of success by climbing the corporate ladder.
I hear you saying, “Yikes, Dr. Amber!” I know this sounds grim, but it’s the truth for a lot of people. Again, I can’t speak for them all, but I can share what I’ve learned from my work all of these years as a coach and leadership development facilitator.
If you’re a leader who is responsible for shaping company culture and wants a different, more meaningful experience for your team, here are a few things for you to consider.
How Leaders Can Walk it Like They Talk It
First, keep in mind that you have more power than you think. But you have to be willing to do the harder work.
Stop focusing on optics. Start focusing on who gets access, who gets heard, and who gets promoted. Those are the real measures of culture.
Create space for dissent. If everyone agrees with you all the time, you’ve built a culture of compliance, not collaboration. Genuine culture includes conflict, discomfort, and differing opinions. If your team needs help with navigating conflict and difficult conversations, call me.
Examine your own reactions and biases. When someone shows up authentically and it makes you uncomfortable, notice that. In the words of Simon Sinek, “start with why.” Go inward and examine where the root of your discomfort lies.
And most importantly, align your rewards with your stated values. If you say you value authenticity but only recognize and promote the people who perform the most polished version of professionalism, you’re building performative culture whether you mean to or not.
Five Questions to Audit Your Company Culture
This isn’t exhaustive, but it’s a start:
- Who gets promoted, and what do they have in common? Look at the actual pattern, not the stated intention. Does it reflect the diversity and authenticity you claim to value?
- What happens when someone disagrees with leadership? Are they welcomed into the conversation or sidelined? Is dissent viewed as valuable or disruptive?
- Do people feel safe being honest, or do they perform agreement? Ask yourself: when’s the last time someone told you something you didn’t want to hear?
- What behaviors get rewarded with raises and opportunities? Is it genuine contribution or polished performance? Substance or optics?
Are there people on your team who are exhausted from behaviors like code-switching? If you don’t know, that’s worth paying attention to. Ask and actually listen.
Building Something Real
In a nutshell, performative culture doesn’t create the innovation, loyalty, or engagement you’re hoping for. It creates compliance. And compliance doesn’t drive excellence.
To see a true culture shift, you have to be willing to do the uncomfortable work of examining your own biases, welcoming dissent, and aligning your actions with your stated values. I always say that what leaders value is what gets prioritized. What gets prioritized is what money gets spent on. So invest in creating a culture that allows for the authenticity you claimed to want.
It’s harder. But it’s the only way to drop the performance and build something real.
