I know, I am clearly very late to the party! I recently discovered podcasts during my sabbatical. A few months ago, I only had the energy to manage my day to day responsibilities. Now, with the gift of time, I have been able to really listen to others and discover myself. 

I often was familiar with the names of inspirational gurus, but during the most stressful times in my career, it was hard to find the time to read and learn about their message. My friend turned me on to Adam Grant. She experienced an awkward moment in her career and found relief in his message. I became familiar with Brene Brown this past year. They are both brilliant and leaders in their field.

Now, back in 2016, Grant disputed Brown’s recommendation to “just be yourself.” Brown said, “be authentic,” and Grant said, “be sincere.” Here’s my attempt to summarize what they believe the other one was saying (in layman’s terms):

• Brown on Grant: “Grant believes you should change depending on the situation/person you are experiencing.” 
• Grant on Brown: “Brown believes you should share every piece of yourself regardless of the situation/person you are experiencing.” 

They both speak with big words and profound thoughts (damn, I wish I could that). I read a few synopses from writers about the dispute, and they all believed that Brown and Grant were both right. I’d like to add, not only are they both correct, I think they were saying the same thing! And when you look up synonyms for authentic and sincere, they share the same words: genuine and true.