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?
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