A Public Sector Leadership Imperative.

I recently read a departmental memo that struck all the right chords, clear, empathetic, visionary. But something felt off. It was too polished.

As it turns out, the memo was AI-generated. It made me pause and reflect: in a world where communication can be simulated at scale, what does it mean to be authentic?

For public sector leaders, this question isn’t philosophical, it’s practical.

The New Authenticity Gap

Artificial intelligence is changing the landscape of leadership. From policy briefs to constituent outreach, AI tools can now mimic tone, sentiment, and insight with remarkable fluency. But imitation isn’t connection.

In public service, trust isn’t earned through perfect prose, it’s earned through presence. Through consistency. Through leadership that feels grounded in real values and experience.

The risk is this: as the tools get better, the human voice becomes harder to distinguish and easier to question.

Public servants and employees are already predisposed to skepticism. Negativity bias tells us that people tend to focus more on what feels false or manipulative. Add in confirmation bias, and you’ve got a workforce that may interpret overly polished AI-generated messages as just more evidence of top-down detachment.

What Does It Mean to Be Authentic?

Let’s get practical. Authenticity isn’t about oversharing or rejecting innovation. It’s about alignment between what we believe, what we say, and what we do.

In change leadership, it’s called the “Say-Do Gap” — the space between what leaders say they value and what their actions demonstrate. Authenticity is about narrowing that gap.

Why is this so important now?

• In times of transformation, when budgets are shifting, roles are evolving, and systems are being reimagined, this alignment is the foundation for real trust.
• In high-stakes, high-scrutiny environments like the public sector, this alignment is everything. Employees and constituents are watching closely. “Do you mean what you say? Will you follow through?”

When there’s a mismatch — when messages feel manufactured or disconnected from reality — the trust erosion is fast and hard to reverse. But when words and behaviors align over time, even imperfect communication carries weight.