If you’re in the business world at all, you’re probably hearing the word “authenticity” a lot lately. It’s become one of the biggest buzzwords in business.

Marketing has to be authentic. Sales pitches have to be authentic. Products have to be authentic. Leadership is under pressure to be authentic.

But when it comes to leaders, being authentic might not always be the wisest route, says Harvard Business Review. If your real, authentic emotions don’t match the tenor of the situation, it can be a problem.

For instance, if your job today is to let go of an employee, but you’re in a great mood because your personal life is amazing, you may want to tamp down the joy for the sake of being kind.

HBR puts it this way: “Being inauthentic by hiding underlying authentic emotions may be done with a prosocial motivation to benefit others, with a realization that true authenticity may not be appropriate for the context.”

I think most leaders I work with would attest that true leadership is about knowing when and how to be authentic.