An award-winning CEO and communications expert shows how authentic leadership eliminates the need for the shortcuts that sabotage success. "Fake it till you make it" just doesn't work-at least not long enough to build a sustainable business.


Self-doubt and the intense pressure of facing the unknown are real problems for entrepreneurs and leaders. But there's a difference between feigning confidence and running a con game; Elizabeth Holmes and Billy McFarland thrived on faking it for a short while, but their businesses were all aspiration, no foundation, and so collapsed disastrously. This book revisits the core of leadership, defines authentic, reality-based business integrity, and shows readers how to attain and maintain it.

Through the double lens of running her own PR firm in Silicon Valley and advising hundreds of other executives, award-winning CEO Sabrina Horn shows leaders how to attend to the fundamentals and gain the clarity of thought necessary to make sound business decisions. She delivers real, workable strategies and best practices with firsthand accounts of painful lessons. Horn's fake-free advice will empower leaders to disarm fear and organize risk, manage setbacks, plan for the unexpected, and create a company culture designed for long-term, sustainable growth.