Cultures and Authenticity. Who am I, really?

Back in the old days, when I used to be the Austrian Andrea, life was simple. I was born into an Austrian family; I grew up the Austrian way. I was 100% Austrian. I lived and breathed Austrian values, mindsets and attitudes. My religious, political and cultural views were strongly influenced by who I came to be in the setting that I grew up in. Had you asked me then, I would have said that I was a true, a real Austrian. An authentic Austrian, maybe.

Then I lived in Germany for a bit and married a German man. Despite the cultural differences between the Austrians and the Germans, we share a similar mindset about the most important questions in life. However, my ‘Austrianness’ softened up and I became a little bit German, too. Then, we lived in the UK for several years and I acquired a chunk of the British culture. So, my already confused ‘Austrianness’ got mixed up with a totally different way of living. Again, I became a little less Austrian. To top it all off, now we have been living in the USA for a number of years, and apart from being even less Austrian, I have two American children. They have three passports; they understand two languages and speak English better than I ever will. How Austrian, or German, or American will they be? And, what bothers me more: how Austrian am I still?

Does culture impact the Self?

Whenever I talk about Authentic Leadership I use the terms ‘true self’, ‘core self’, or ‘identity’. These are crucial terms in the discussion because they summarize the sets of values that make a person. There is lots of literature on identity theory, and it’s fascinating to think about one’s own identity and how it came into existence. Contrary to my previous beliefs (I am one and the same no matter where I live and what I do) I’m starting to see how much of an influence my environment has on me. Back in the USA from a one-month vacation in Europe I realized that, as much as I love Austria, I’m no Austrian anymore. I still embrace many of the Austrian values: the importance of enjoying the little pleasures of everyday life, the genuine friendliness and the relaxed search for perfection. But there are others that I don’t share anymore (the aversion to uncertainty, the sluggish adaptation to modern life, a lack of speed). This means that I have become sensitive to those Austrian values that are less desirable to me, simply because I have been adapting to other cultures over a period of time. I am still me, but what I think and do has been strongly changed by the different environments I live in.

Even in terms of simple every-day behaviors, I can see that I have become a hybrid. For example, I believe that “Cash is King” (Austrian) yet I pay exclusively by credit card (American). I like an elegantly served glass of beer (Austrian) yet I liked the pints of lager in English pubs even more (British). I think it's right to have speed control on motor ways (Austrian) but I usually go crazy on the German autobahn with 180 km/h (German). I much prefer an inner-city shopping trip to strip malls (Austrian) yet I enjoy thankfully the free parking at the Mall (American). I make a point of walking to do errands as much as possible (Austrian/German) yet I adore drive-through banks and coffee houses (American). The list of examples is endless.

Ten years of adaptation to different countries, people and every day habits and behaviors have shown their impact. I might be the same Andrea in some ways that I was before, but in many ways my values have changed and with them my attitudes and behaviors. I learned that right can be wrong, and the other way round.

Can I maintain a sense of Authenticity?

It’s important to understand one’s own Authenticity, because then we can learn about Authentic Leadership. What I know so far is that the development of one’s own authenticity is a process, one whose ending we will not even live to see. Does that mean that there is no authentic Self because for it, there has to be a set of certain values somewhere within us? -  In other words and applied to my own example: did the changing environments do my authenticity more harm than good because it destroyed my fixed value system?

I believe the opposite it true. I think that the “Andrea the hybrid” understands her own Self much better than Andrea the Austrian.  Why? Because it is being tested through regular contact with contrasting cultural values and this process acts like a sieve: only the really important values remain on the surface.

Bottom line is: a heightened sensitivity to the impact of our environments on our own Self helps enormously to figure out Who we are and Who we want – or don’t want – to be. My future research will therefore be directed at the impact of cultures (geographical as well as organizational) on Authentic Leadership. Let's see what I find....

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