Being Authentic Isn't Enough

Straight shooters still need shared vision.

I’ve always been a straight shooter. The kind of person who can’t hide emotion, who lives in my feels, who plays with my cards face-up on the table. For many people who’ve worked with me, this is refreshing. They know where they stand. Most people are guarded, afraid to say what they think, uncomfortable speaking up. So when someone just says it as it is, it stands out.

And honestly? This approach has served me well. When you’re open about your opinions, you find your audience. Some people will disregard what you say, others will critique it, but the ones who resonate will engage and stick around. Those are the people you’re looking for anyway. Better to be a beacon by being honest about who you are and what you stand for than to play it safe and attract no one.

But I’ve been learning something uncomfortable lately: being authentic and direct is necessary but not sufficient. And I’m seeing the gaps in my own community building work because of it.

Here’s the problem. I’ve spent the last year building a community by being myself, sharing my thoughts openly, inviting people into conversations. People join because they connect with what I’m saying. But once they’re in, I’ve noticed something: they often don’t understand what we’re collectively building together. They’re engaged with me, but not necessarily aligned with each other or with a broader vision.

I got similar feedback when I was running a team at AG1. I ran things very flat, with each person going deep on their own problem. One of my direct reports told me they didn’t really understand the broader strategy. Even though we were doing good work, not understanding the bigger picture affected how they felt about the work itself. At the time, I thought the issue was just about better communication. Now I realize it was something deeper.

I’ve been reading Sapiens by Yuval Harari, and one idea has completely reframed how I think about this. Harari talks about how humans organize around shared cultures and imaginations. Our ability to believe in shared fictions (money, nations, corporations, religions) is what allows us to cooperate at scale. It’s not just about individuals being authentic or talented. It’s about constructing belief systems that large groups of people can align around.

That’s what I’ve been missing. I’ve been so focused on being authentic that I haven’t invested in creating the shared imagination that helps people understand what we’re building together. I’ve assumed that if I’m clear and direct, alignment will naturally follow. But it doesn’t work that way.

Think about successful companies. The ones that actually work have more than just authentic leaders. They have clear values, updated culture documents, shared language, and systems that help everyone understand the context they’re operating in. When leadership changes but those systems stay stagnant, you get misalignment. People feel disconnected even when leadership is being “authentic” because the framework for understanding what everyone is working toward has broken down.

The same thing happens in communities. You can have the most honest, direct person leading, but if there’s no clear articulation of the shared vision, people feel lost. They’re there for you, but they don’t know what “we” are building.

So I’m starting to change my approach. I’m thinking about what it would mean to treat my community like it needs its own living document that captures our shared vision, values, and direction. Not a rigid set of rules, but an evolving articulation of what we believe and where we’re headed. I’m working through how to be more intentional about communicating not just my opinions, but the broader context and strategy. How to create frameworks that help people see the full picture, even when they’re going deep on their own interests.

This doesn’t mean being less authentic. It means recognizing that authenticity without shared context just creates a collection of individuals orbiting around you. To build something that lasts, you need people aligned around a shared imagination of what you’re creating together. And that imagination doesn’t just emerge naturally. It has to be actively constructed, communicated, and evolved.

I’m still figuring out what this looks like in practice. But I know the straight shooter approach got me here. It helped me find my people. Now I’m realizing that building something meaningful with those people requires more than just honesty. It requires creating the systems and stories that turn a group of individuals into something collective.

That’s the work I’m starting now.