Perfection Is Out. Realness Runs the Room Now — Here's How Authentic CEOs Can Win Trust Today In today's culture of authenticity, CEOs who embrace transparency, vulnerability and realness — rather than polished perfection — build stronger trust and influence.
By Raoul Davis Edited by Micah Zimmerman
Key Takeaways
- Today’s leaders gain trust by embracing flaws, not hiding them.
- Transparency builds lasting influence; performative leadership is losing relevance.
- Vulnerability is now a CEO’s strength, not a weakness.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
As Gen-Z begins to reveal their personal values and desires, it's apparent now that public-facing perfection is out of style, and transparency is king. There is now a move from a curated and performative charisma to a desire for a real and candid thought leader.
People are tired of having perfect-looking celebrities, perfect-looking social media and perfect-looking CEO's. There's a deep fatigue of performative leadership, and the Kool-Aid is no longer being drunk. Audiences gravitate towards realness and personality, especially in times of uncertainty and controversy.
Vulnerability used to be seen as a gateway for people to attack and criticize CEO's and brand leaders. However, now it's transforming into a superpower and a leadership strength. People want leaders not just who are flawed, but accept that they are flawed and don't try to skate past it. Smart CEO's use their flaws as a branding strategy and leverage them to place themselves as open, real, and humanized leaders.
Gone is the old model of leadership where perfectionism was mandatory. Secrets had to be kept tight and swept under the rug, and real personalities couldn't be seen in public for fear of seeming passive. It was more important to "sound" media-trained than to address actual issues that pertained to your sector.
Related: Every Successful Business Has Bad Reviews — Even Mine. Here's How I Tackle Negative Feedback.
Why transparency is no longer optional
So, why the shift now?
The culture has seen time and time again, celebrities and leaders get in front of a camera and apologize for a mistake they made, or an old tweet that resurfaced. The oversaturation of online apologies makes them fall flat and seem more rehearsed each time. The only real motivation for leaders to apologize was the fear of being cancelled and losing influence, and that agenda only became more apparent.
Mistakes are bound to happen because imperfection is a part of humanity. When you're a CEO, you're now in the public eye whether you like it or not. This isn't a call to be perfect. It's an inescapable elevation that comes with the position. You now have a team to lead, and that team will have an expectation of honesty, openness and behind-the-scenes access, not just corporate jargon and a polished statement.
The elevation to public figure can be seen as a burden or a mantel, and intentional CEO's will leverage it to ensure their success.
How Steve Madden turned criticism into credibility
In a recent interview, Steve Madden, the Founder of Steve Madden Ltd., was asked what he thinks when people call his brand a knockoff. In the past, a well-trained media leader would be told that they should dodge any negative association and give a vague but passable answer to satisfy the interviewer and keep themselves safe.
Steve Madden took this jarring question as an opportunity to leverage his authenticity and elevate his brand. He admittedly said that his brand does take inspiration from other brands and redesigns them as their own. Steve made his authenticity an asset, not a liability, and because he was authentic, he was celebrated.
While Steve spoke without a filter during this interview, he never conjured chaos by doing so. As an intentional thought leader, he dropped the corporate dialogue, remained an in-touch human being, and spoke with directness that was admired.
Related: Why Vulnerability May Be a Leader's Greatest Strength
How to redefine transparent leadership in the CEO era
Transparency is not about being theatrical, or the "most open", or transforming yourself into a lifestyle influencer. It's about being who you actually are and leveraging that to be a more relatable and human leader. Transparency as a CEO is to accept that you're human and let your humanness be celebrated.
Personality-driven leadership is a mask that one must put on and take off as they step in and out of professional spaces. It's a character CEO's and managers must choose to play, then retire from when the work day ends. But when communication is a leadership tool, your desire becomes for your company and those connected to it to flourish.
When you view your company as a societal solution, and not a corporate money machine, you grant yourself the freedom to not be charismatic out of performance.
Authenticity as a CEO is more than being able to charm people or be a likable person. As the leader, you must be able to take accountability, speak the truth and clarify yourself in order to actually live out that authenticity.
Why CEOs must choose transparency over armor
As a CEO, you now have a choice to make: hold onto your armor and look strong, or become authentic and actually be strong. Vulnerability is only a liability if you don't admit that you're vulnerable.
Influence comes to those who are most relatable, and what's more relatable than being human? Today's power move isn't about being perfect. It's about being transparent enough to earn belief.
