The Rise of “Performative Thought Leadership”, Why We Feel Irritated by Pseudo-Profound Work Advice
This article was inspired by a recent client conversation, shared with permission and anonymity.
In a recent session, a client shared an observation about something they’d been seeing online, people in ordinary, day to day professional roles creating highly polished motivational videos about work, life balance, success, and purpose. These posts often frame standard workplace tasks as profound life lessons, almost positioning the creator as a mentor, guide, or modern day philosopher.
My client described it with real clarity, “It’s when someone disguises normal work as if it’s something deeper… almost like they’ve created a guru version of themselves.”
This trend, often called performative thought leadership, has grown rapidly in the era of personal branding, and it brings up interesting therapeutic reflections about authenticity, identity, and the subtle emotional reactions these posts can evoke.
What Is Performative Thought Leadership?
Performative thought leadership refers to presenting everyday or unsurprising ideas as if they are deep insights. This often appears in a cinematic style, with calming background music, polished morning routines, motivational quotes, and monologues about purpose or productivity.
The presentation looks meaningful, the content does not always carry the same depth. Many people notice a mild sense of discomfort when they see these posts, and there are good psychological reasons why.
Why It Can Feel Inauthentic
From a therapeutic perspective, the key issue is congruence. When someone presents their experience with a level of depth that does not truly match the reality of what they are describing, our minds detect the mismatch. It is not about judging the person or their work, it is about sensing the performance element.
This mismatch often creates a subtle feeling of discomfort or irritation, even when the content is well-intentioned.
The Human Reasons Behind the Trend
It is important to approach this topic with compassion. Most people creating this style of content are not trying to mislead or inflate their importance. Often they are seeking meaning in their work, building confidence, trying to inspire others, navigating pressure to maintain a personal brand, or attempting to stand out in a competitive field.
The “guru version” of themselves can be understood as a way of feeling capable, valued, or purposeful. Underneath is almost always a very human need, to feel significant, seen, and secure.
Why We React the Way We Do
My client mentioned feeling frustration and confusion when seeing these posts, and many people report the same. Common reactions include frustration, “This feels performative”, self doubt, “Should I be doing this too?”, discomfort, “Something about this feels off”, and cynicism, “Does this help anyone?”
These reactions often point toward our own values, a preference for authenticity, tiredness with surface level self help culture, discomfort with curated identities, and a desire for honest, grounded conversations about work, wellbeing, and life.
What This Trend Reveals About Us
This cultural pattern highlights something meaningful, we are craving realness. Not polished perfection, not pseudo deep motivation, not endlessly curated online wisdom. We want grounded, human conversations about identity, stress, purpose, and growth.
These are precisely the spaces where therapeutic work naturally sits.
A Compassionate Perspective
Rather than criticising individuals who create these posts, we can hold a more compassionate, psychologically informed view. We can ask, what identity might they be trying to build, what insecurity might they be soothing, what pressure might they feel to appear inspiring, and what need is this persona meeting for them?
And for ourselves, we can reflect gently, what part of me reacts to this, what value of mine is being activated, and how can I bring more congruence and authenticity into my own work and self expression?
In a world full of curated images, authenticity becomes a grounding force, something we can model, cultivate, and continually return to.