A genuine person/agent is firmly grounded and quietly confident in themselves. They tend to be good listeners because they’re present in the moment. They’re not trying to figure out someone else’s agenda or worrying about their own.

Genuine people are self-aware of both their strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, rather than blaming others for their mistakes, they seek ways to improve themselves. 

On the contrary, a fake person/agent is inauthentic. This stems from a sense of insecurity and a feeling of pressure to be something they’re not. They unconsciously hope their fake persona will help them to be more successful.

But inauthentic people are toxic to both themselves and those around them. Here are three more traits of inauthentic (fake) agents/people:

1. They don’t learn from their mistakes. Instead, they make excuses or blame others. Therefore, they never truly grasp the critical lessons that mistakes can teach us, holding them back from the success they want so badly.

2. They have high opinions of themselves and want to ensure everyone around them knows how great they are. They use this façade to cover up their inadequacies, not daring to look too deeply within for fear of what they might find. 

3. They lack consistency and the ability to stay on track. Rather than giving all they can to a project, they tend to bounce from one thing to the next, trying to do everything and be everywhere. As a result, they miss deadlines, make mistakes, and then blame everyone else. This is because they lack core values and don’t actually know what they stand for.

I refer to these inauthentic agents as ‘Salesy Slicketers’ who will say or do anything to “get the deal” (collect a commission).

Nobody irks me more than a loud-mouthed know-it-all Salesy Slickster who struts around like a peacock, reeking of confidence for no apparent reason and spewing garbage that they’ve convinced themselves (and others) is true. 

I often ask myself, “Who in their right mind would hire this pen?” 

But they do. I guess people are attracted by authoritative spewing? Self-confidence is an attractive trait, after all. But then they find out, usually too late, that it was all a big fake.

So, what can I do about it? Not much. I just repeat my mantra:

Stick to my core values. Listen to my client’s needs even more closely. Continue to selflessly tell the truth. Try to be a little bit better every day.

Ted