Transcript
Commercial Narrator (0:00)
Toast the holidays in a new way and raise a glass of Rumchata, a delicious creamy blend of horchata with rum. Enjoy it over ice or in your coffee. Rumchata. Your holiday cocktails just got sweeter. Tap or click the banner for more. Drink responsibly. Caribbean Rum with real dairy cream Natural and artificial flavors. Alcohol 13.75% by volume 27.5 proof. Copyright 2025 Agave Loco Brands, Pojoaquee, Wisconsin. All rights reserved.
State Farm Advertiser (0:29)
This episode is brought to you by State Farm Listening to this podcast Smart move. Being financially savvy.
Nicole Kahlil (0:36)
Smart move.
State Farm Advertiser (0:38)
Another smart move having State Farm help you create a competitive price when you choose to bundle home and auto bundling. Just another way to save with a personal price plan. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings and eligibility vary by state.
Claude Silver (0:58)
Foreign.
Nicole Kahlil (1:09)
I am Nicole Kahlil and you're listening to the this Is Woman's Work podcast. We're together. We're redefining what it means, what it looks and feels like to be doing woman's work in the world today with you as the decider. Whatever feels true and real and right for you. That's how you do woman's Work. Which sounds beautifully simple, right? Know yourself, be yourself. Do what feels true. Except try doing that at work. Try showing up as your full, messy, evolving human self in a place where authenticity is one of those words that looks great on a company values poster but rarely feels as valued. In practice. We say we want people to bring their whole selves to work, but the second someone actually does, everyone gets real uncomfortable real fast. If you're too emotional, too direct, too honest, or too you, someone inevitably will tell you to read the room or tone it down. Or my personal favorite anti authenticity catchphrase, fake it till you make it. But maybe there is a little truth in all of that. Because, let's be honest, we can't and shouldn't just say or do whatever we feel like in any given moment at work, in a meeting or with a client, when your paycheck, promotion or reputation depends on other people's perception of you, or authenticity starts to feel like a luxury. And as you know, I've done a lot of work on confidence, which is often associated with and even interchanged with authenticity. So let's separate the two real quick. Confidence is when you trust yourself firmly and boldly. Authenticity is the quality of being real or true. And yes, I Just looked that up. So let me say that all another way. Confidence is trusting yourself. Authenticity is being yourself. And in an ideal world, those two things would overlap so much that they'd just be one big circle. But here's the problem. We live in a world that teaches us to look everywhere but within. For both, we tie our confidence to how we look, what we achieve, how successful people think we are. We filter our authenticity through other people's comfort, approval, and expectations. We outsource what can only come from the inside and then wonder why we don't feel real or rooted in who we are. And while this shows up in a lot of areas, I found that work is one of the hardest places to get it right. How do we walk that thin line between authenticity and professionalism, confidence and perception? How do we show up as our full, real selves, not the polished, filtered, executive presence version, while still being taken seriously? How do we bring our heart into a workplace that's still obsessed with our hustle? Well, our guest today has built her career answering those exact questions. Claude Silver is the world's first chief heart officer at vaynerx. Yes, that's a real title. And she's on a mission to revolutionize leadership, talent, and workplace culture. She's worked alongside Gary Vee to redefine what success looks like from the inside out. She's earned Adweek's Changing the game award and captivated audiences everywhere, from Google to the US Armed forces. Her new book, be yourself at the groundbreaking power of showing up, standing out, and leading from the heart, explores how authenticity, courage, and connection can change not just the way we lead, but but the way we live. So, Claude, thank you for being here today, and I have so many questions. I want to start with what I think is maybe the root of the entire conversation, which is how do you define authenticity? And very specifically, how do we do that at work when we are faced with things like professionalism, expectations, and other people's perceptions? So let's start with what is authenticity? And then, like, how do we do that at work?