“Image Is Everything” vs. “Authenticity Is King”

I didn’t think I’d write about Andre Agassi this week.

You may recall this 1990 Canon commercial with Andre Agassi:

The tagline was “Image is everything,” which is essentially the tagline for corporate existence as well. In a rare moment of sobriety, Harvard Business Review ran an article where that is acknowledged:

However, breaking out of the “Image Is Everything” mindset is difficult, and leaders often struggle to come across as authentic. Our research finds that one reason leaders struggle is because they frequently choose to present their strengths and intentionally avoid disclosing their weaknesses. We saw this play out in a pilot study when we asked leaders in various organizations to write how they would introduce themselves to…