Authenticity

Authenticity can reduce stress because it lowers the mental effort of constantly managing an image. When people feel able to be themselves within a professional role, they often experience less internal tension, less self-monitoring and more confidence in communication.

That can be important because for a broker where much of the job involves relationships, persuasion and trust. If someone feels they must always adopt a script, hide doubt, or present a personality that is not really theirs, that can lead to emotional fatigue, surface-level interaction and a quiet build-up of stress.

Research generally links greater authenticity with better psychological wellbeing, while low authenticity is associated with strain, self-alienation and emotional dissonance. In practical terms, this means that brokers who feel disconnected from how they are expected to act may be more vulnerable to stress, especially when they are under pressure to perform.

At the same time, very high authenticity is not always ideal if it becomes overly self-expressive without enough adaptation. A broker who insists on always “being myself” may come across as blunt, inflexible or insufficiently responsive to client needs and expectations.

Your authenticity score can be understood in broad practical terms as low, medium or high tolerance, this broad pattern is useful for reflection.

Low authenticity can be helpful in small doses because it may make brokers more polished, more aware of the audience and more careful about how they present themselves. In some settings, that can improve professionalism and reduce the risk of saying something impulsive.

However, when low authenticity becomes a dominant style, brokers may start to feel they are constantly performing. That can create stress because of the effort involved in monitoring tone, hiding uncertainty, suppressing emotions and trying to match what others expect rather than what feels natural.

Over time, this can lead to self-doubt, exhaustion and a sense of emotional distance from the work. It may also weaken trust if clients sense the broker is polished but not fully real.

Medium authenticity is usually the healthiest profile for managing work stress. It allows brokers to remain professional and adapt their communication while still feeling broadly aligned with who they are.

This balance tends to support clearer relationships, less internal conflict and steadier emotional energy. It also helps brokers flex their style depending on the client, while still preserving a sense of identity and integrity.

For many people, this is the most sustainable position: enough authenticity to feel grounded, enough flexibility to remain commercially effective, and enough self-awareness to avoid becoming either masked or overly unfiltered.

High authenticity can be very useful in brokerage because it supports trust, confidence and consistency. Brokers with this trait often feel more comfortable speaking plainly, admitting what they do and do not know, and building relationships that feel real rather than forced.

That said, high authenticity can become unhelpful if it turns into rigidity. A broker may become too attached to their own style, too frank for the audience, or too unwilling to adjust communication to suit the client or the situation.

In stress terms, the risk is not usually image-management stress, but friction stress — where the person becomes frustrated by environments that seem inauthentic, overly controlled or socially demanding. If not managed well, this can create conflict, impatience or reduced influence.

A client wants reassurance:

• A person with low authenticity may heavily script the conversation and feel tense throughout.
• A person with medium authenticity will usually adapt the tone through the course of conversation, without losing themselves.
• A person with high authenticity may speak honestly and clearly, but still needs to ensure the message is not completely discouraging and is delivered in a more empathetic, supportive way.

You disagree with a colleague’s approach.

Low authenticity may lead you to go along with it silently and feel resentful later (and risk your colleague feeling let down in the long term as you were not genuine); medium authenticity supports respectful disagreement; high authenticity may make you say exactly what you think, which can be valuable if done carefully, but unhelpful if it becomes too sharp and critical. Aim for a balance of ‘this is a strength’ with ‘this could be augmented’.

You are presenting advice on a complex product.

A low-authenticity broker may over-polish the message and lose warmth, while a high-authenticity broker may sound very natural but risk being too unscripted. The balanced approach is to remain genuine while still using the structure and language the client needs.

If your score suggests low authenticity, the aim is not to become completely unfiltered. The aim is to reduce unnecessary self-monitoring so you can communicate with more ease, less strain and more consistency.

A practical way to build authenticity is through small acts of alignment. For example, use a tone that feels natural while staying professional, share a view in a meeting rather than automatically agreeing, or admit a limitation early rather than pretending certainty you do not feel. Over time, these moments reduce the gap between inner experience and outward behaviour.

If your score suggests very high authenticity, the development goal is adaptability rather than less sincerity. Use perspective-taking, client awareness and role boundaries so that your genuine style still fits the context and does not unintentionally create friction.

A useful daily sequence is: notice when you are over-performing, reconnect with your values, decide what needs adapting, and speak in a way that is both genuine and useful. That turns authenticity from a vague personality issue into a practical stress-management tool.

For example, a broker might say: “I do not need to sound different from who I am to be professional. I need to be clear, helpful and aligned with the client’s needs.” That kind of self-talk can reduce the stress of trying to maintain a false version of oneself.

The overall goal is realistic authenticity: enough consistency to feel grounded, enough flexibility to fit the context, and enough self-awareness to avoid both masking and rigidity. In a role where trust and communication matter so much, that combination supports both performance and well-being.