How To Be Authentic

"Authenticity" is the big buzz word in corporate and political America these days.  "Be authentic" is the advice that gurus and pundits offer from afar.  But just instructing someone to be authentic is not actionable.  If you walked into your CEOs office right now and told him to be more authentic, what would he do?  If a CEO walks into the head of marketing's office and charges, "make our marketing more authentic," what steps would the marketing executive take to make that happen?

The advice  of "be more authentic" is just not actionable.

The best example I can point to of what it means to be authentic is what happened to Hilary Clinton in New Hampshire.  Here is a strong woman who has spent at least a career, if not a lifetime, acting strong.  Being perceived as strong.  Her whole campaign is about being experienced and strong and qualified.  The problem with that as a strategy is that it's unreal.  No one is like that.  Robots maybe. 

It takes more courage to be to be human, to be "authentic," than to act strong. Only because of complete exhaustion did Hilary Clinton, for the first time in memory, publicly let down her guard, brush aside her act and show us that she has self-doubt, she has fears and is indeed human...and it made her beautiful.  She didn't come across as weak for welling-up when she expressed what she believed.  In fact it made her seem stronger.  The folly is, all her advisers who tell her to be authentic tried hard to suppress the clip.  To hide  it from the world.  The one time Hilary was authentic and they panicked (I'd love to know what their definition of authenticity is).

Democrat or Republican.  Hilary supporter or not, when you see this video, you can't help but like her just a little more.  And so did voters in New Hampshire.  That's because being authentic works.

Here's what it takes to be authentic:

Being authentic is not difficult, per se, it just takes a lot of self-confidence (and not the "act strong" kind).  It means you believe in everything you say and everything you do.  It means that you always speak the truth and act in accordance with your moral compass at all times to all people: to your friends, your colleagues, to the public and to your customers.  No "pitching."  No "selling."  No little white lies.  No fear of what others will think of you, your brand or your company.  No acting in a way that you think others will like you more.  Complete and total honesty.  Nothing more.

The truth is, few of us, as individuals or as companies, have the courage to be completely authentic all the time.  This is why authentic people and companies are so attractive to us and why they are so few in number.

Lesson to be learned: It takes more strength to be authentic than it does to act strong.  And the more authentic you can be, the more people will like you, the more they want to vote for you or buy your products...and the stronger you will be.