Authenticity. No matter what blog post, article or book you'll come across about personal branding, they all will tell you that the key to a successful personal brand is authenticity. What they won't tell you is how to do it.
See, if you ask just about anyone if they are being authentic in any given moment, they are going to say "yes." But if that were the case, why is the number one piece of advice given around personal branding to be authentic? It's because, even though you might believe you're being authentic in any given moment, you probably aren't.
First of all, if you look up the word authentic you'll find that it is an adjective. Which means it should be a descriptive word. A word that is used to describe something or someone. While I do agree that "authentic" can be a word to describe a person, place or thing, I would challenge anyone who chooses to leave it at that.
When it comes to personal branding, the word authentic is a verb. Being authentic isn't just what you are, it should be who you are.
Merriam-Webster online gives a total of eight definitions for the word authentic. Among them:
Not false or imitation and
True to one's own personality, spirit or character
To truly be authentic it's imperative that you are fully present in every moment so that you can begin to leverage your authenticity as a tool to differentiate yourself from everyone else in you niche, industry or field.
To do this, you'll only have to commit to doing one thing:
Unapologetically show up as the same person and in the same way publicly, privately and personally.