How Do People Know If a Leader Is Sincere

Authenticity gets all the press, but for leaders, sincerity matters more. 

Team members and colleagues respond differently to a leader who is sincere and expresses their genuine feelings and views without pretense. 

Even when they disagree, they come to trust a sincere leader who is heartfelt about what they say and do. 

Sincere leaders operate with great consistency in their words and actions. Their openness about their intentions and decisions further cements the view that they genuinely believe in what they advocate for. 

However, conveying sincerity in a specific conversation or discussion is a different matter. 

On occasion, leaders need to express and emphasize their sincerity more directly, making sure there is no mistake about the genuineness they feel regarding what they are about to say or do. 

The recipe for projecting sincerity in a conversation can vary slightly in different cultures, but leaders typically display their earnestness by engaging in four key actions at the same time. 

First, they make direct eye contact with those they are addressing when they are speaking and listening.  

Direct eye contact is a sign of respect in most cultures and fosters trust and openness. 

People have a difficult time not being honest when they are making direct eye contact. People know that and depend on it. 

Of course, eye contact also expresses confidence and self-assuredness. (If captured on video during conversations and discussions, many leaders would be surprised at how little direct eye contact they maintain, especially when listening.)

Second, they vary their pitch, tone, and inflection to emphasize their conviction.

While some leaders elevate their voice and inflection, more commonly, they lower their tone, getting slower, calmer, and steadier in their expression. This variation underlines the significance of what is being said and adds weight to the leader’s true belief. 

Third, they use their language choices to further clarify their conviction. 

Sincere leaders choose their words carefully to fully capture how they feel and what they believe. Words convey a conventional and relational meaning that must align with the view being proposed. The wrong words can destroy sincerity, while the right words can secure it. 

Fourth, leaders further enhance their sincerity by matching their facial expressions, gestures, and other nonverbal behaviors with the message they are promoting. 

A serious message requires serious expressions and gestures for it to be viewed as sincere, and so forth. When leaders are truly sincere, they don’t flip a switch and change their demeanor very quickly. 

We do all four of these actions seamlessly when we are heartfelt about what we believe. Becoming more intentional about them and working to perfect the way you express sincerity is a skill worth mastering. 

As the philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Sincerity is the highest compliment you can pay.” When communicated expertly, sincerity becomes the real message behind any content or advocacy. Leaders are never fully trusted without it. 

Do people feel your sincerity when you talk?