Authenticity, candor and a constructive corporate culture

Recently, social-media-for-associations guru Maddie Grant (from www.Socialfish.org) posted a request for feedback about Truth and Authenticity in the Digital Age. We, as both consumers and as professionals who care about doing our jobs well, probably recognize corporate authenticity when we see it.

The amazing accessibility provided by today's social networks mean that members/customers now expect a certain level of closeness with any company or organization they purchase from.

I'm sure that any organization that is actively communicating with its constituents through social media probably behaved 'authentically' way before the revolution started. Not only that, but social networks allow companies even more opportunities to show off their culture and values.

For companies with positive values and strong moral fiber, these communication vehicles lead to a symbiosis between authenticity and transparency.

Of course, it makes complete sense: if you're going to be transparent, you'd better be authentic, too.

So what does 'authentic' look like? Most likely, we experience authenticity through the 'personal face' of the organization, whether we meet the organization's leaders in person, or through the social networks they help cultivate.

I believe we look for a certain friendliness, candor, intelligence, consistency and easy conversational style.

Via their social networks, we also expect to see the following:

1) The leaders, and/or those they've delegated to, readily respond to comments from their constituents, plus they actively seek out what the members/customers really want.

2) They willingly leave all comments up for public view, both good and bad, since they recognize the benefits of a healthy debate.

3) In keeping with this 'personal face' approach, authenticity may also mean that the leaders blur the lines between their personal and private lives. (Personally, I'm not entirely sure this is a good idea. Another blogger, Deirdre Reid, has an article that delves into this topic a bit more. I am interested to hear additional thoughts on this.)

An organization's innate levels of authenticity and transparency strongly relate to how closely their mission is tied with their actions. By 'actions', I'm thinking of both their public actions (the great accomplishments they tout to the world) and their private actions (from the standpoint of operations).

Right now, I'm trying to answer some questions:

Are there any case-studies of organizations that have fallen or imploded because of a failure to be 'authentic'?

What is the connection between an organization's level of authenticity and a healthy work environment?

Leadership - it's not just having the right stuff

Nonprofit blogger Tera Wozniak Qualls recently started a conversation on effective leadership in the social sector. If you have thoughts or experiences to share on the topic, please visit her site.

Reading this post and the responses made me remember the time a caring supervisor suggested that I get formal leadership training. This was only a few years ago, and what a great suggestion it was. She had taken a course herself, and gotten a lot out of it, and thought I would benefit, too.

At the time, I was convinced I already knew about leadership. The organizational-dynamics courses I had in business school delved into the science and psychology of management quite deeply.

But I figured something more inspiring and hands-on could be a good thing, so I enrolled in a week-long workshop*.

Because of that course, I became convinced that *everyone* who supervises should get formal leadership training. This is not knowledge that people automatically acquire as soon as they get a promotion into management.

Work experience counts for something. But I've seen managers working 20+ years, who think they're really 'experienced', and yet wonder why all of their reports quit on them. Have an MBA? Sorry, that doesn't magically make one a great leader, either.

The most memorable thing I got out of the training is that employees require investment. I have supervised a number of people, and I've sometimes felt like it’s a chore to have to make time for a conversation to address a problem, provide someone additional training or hunt down some extra resources that may help them in their job. But it is TOTALLY worth it.

Employees need training, honest and consistent feedback, a viable reward system, and a sense that what they do is important.

*The course was offered by Academy Leadership (www.academyleadership.com), but there are other good programs out there as well. Whatever you choose, it should be something concentrated, preferably lasting multiple days, away from your place of work and its distractions. You'll get more benefit from something highly interactive that encourages discussion.

Inquiring minds want to know...

In our marketing department, we'll soon be expanding our team, meaning that strangers in nice suits will come strolling through our cube-farm for interviews. I'm especially excited for the fact that we'll get to hire some new team members, as we've been a bit short-staffed as of late.

To prepare for the interviews and to start a list of good questions to ask, I decided to check out Robin Ryan's book titled '60 Seconds & You’re Hired!'

This is one of the better books I’ve found on the subject of interviewing. For candidates, it provides techniques on how you can continually steer the direction of the interview in your favor.

But interviewers can also benefit from the great list of questions. It made me remember some tough questions I'd encountered earlier in life, and so I started a list of some especially good ones.

My short list of favorites:

Tell me about a time you had to give someone bad news.

Describe a mistake you made on your last job.

What kind of person do you think makes a good boss?

Tell me about a book you read recently on (whatever your industry).

An especially weird one: Tell me your favorite joke. (I doubt I'll use that one).

Since hiring for talent is so critical to business success, make sure every question counts! How difficult it is to find questions in which there is no obvious 'right' answer.