10 Behaviors of Genuine People

Whether you’re building a business, a network, or
friendships, you always want to look for people who are
genuine. After all, nobody wants to work or hang out
with a phony. On the flipside, that goes for you, as well.
Bet you never considered that.
In case you're wondering, genuine means actual, real,
sincere, honest. Genuine people are more or less the
same on the inside as their behavior is on the outside.
Unfortunately, it's a tough quality to discern. The problem
is that all human interactions are relative. They’re all a
function of how we perceive each other through our own
subjective lenses.
Being genuine is also a rare quality. In a world full of
phony fads, media hype, virtual personas, positive
thinkers, and personal brands – where everyone wants
what they don’t have, nobody’s content to be who they
are, and, more importantly, nobody’s willing to admit to
any of that – it’s becoming more and more rare all the
time.
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To help you identify this rare breed -- in yourself, as well
-- this is how genuine people behave.
They don’t seek attention. They don’t need constant
reinforcement of their own ego. Where attention seekers
have a hole that constantly needs to be filled, genuine
people are already filled with self-confidence and self-
awareness.
Related: Want to Be Successful? Quit Wasting Your
Brain.
They’re not concerned with being liked. The need to be
liked is born of insecurity and narcissism. It creates a
need to manipulate your own and other’s emotions.
Confident and authentic people are simply themselves. If
you like them, fine. If not, that’s fine, too.
They can tell when others are full of it. Perhaps naïve
folks can be easily fooled, but genuine people are not
naïve. They’re grounded in reality and that gives them a
baseline from which they can tell when things don’t add
up. There’s a big difference.
They are comfortable in their own skin. In his late 70s,
actor Leonard Nimoy said he was closer than ever to
being as comfortable with himself as Spock appeared to
be. Most of us struggle with that. As Henry David
Thoreau observed, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet
desperation.”
They do what they say and say what they mean. They
don’t tend to overreach or exaggerate. They meet their
commitments. And they don’t parse their words
or sugarcoat the truth. If you need to hear it, they’ll tell
you … even if it’s tough for them to say and for you to
hear.
Related: The Truth About 'Fake It 'Til You Make It'
They don’t need a lot of stuff. When you’re comfortable
with whom you are, you don’t need a lot of external stuff
to be happy. You know where to find happiness – inside
yourself, your loved ones, and your work. You find
happiness in the simple things.
They’re not thin-skinned. They don’t take themselves
too seriously so they don’t take offense when none is
intended.
They’re not overly modest or boastful. Since they’re
confident of their strengths, they don’t need to brag
about them. Likewise, they don’t exhibit false modesty.
Humility is a positive trait but it’s even better to just be
straightforward.
They’re consistent. You might describe genuine people
as being weighty, solid, or substantial. Since they know
themselves well and are in touch with their genuine
emotions, they’re more or less predictable ... in a good
way.
They practice what they preach. They’re not likely to
advise people to do something they wouldn’t do
themselves. After all, genuine people know they’re no
better than anyone else so it’s not in their nature to be
self-righteous.
All those seemingly different behaviors have the same
thing at their core: self-awareness that’s consistent with
reality. Genuine people see themselves as others would
if they were objective observers. There’s not a lot of
processing, manipulating, or controlling going on
between what’s in their head and what people see and
hear.
Once you get to know them, genuine people turn out to
be more or less consistent with the way they initially
hold themselves out to be. What you see is what you
get. It's sad that, in today's world, such a positive quality
is at risk of becoming endangered. Not only is it harder
to find in others, it's becoming harder to be genuine
ourselves.