BAJAN SUN
Bajan Sun Magazine
SEPT 2014
BETTER BUSINESS
THROUGH
AUTHENTICITY
Norma T. Hollis
By Norma T. Hollis
H
ave you considered how authentic you are? What
about your business? Not how successful or large or
profitable your business is but how authentic it is.
Authenticity is a defining issue for businesses in the 21st
century. The companies that have found and are expressing
their authenticity are the ones that will meet sustainable
success in the future. And authentic businesses stem from
authentic people.
Authenticity refers to being credible, sincere, genuine,
trustworthy and real. It is a phrase we heard frequently
during the Obama presidential campaign. Candidates were
evaluated by how “real” they came across - their level of
authenticity.
In the past 30 years I have researched issues of authenticity.
This has led me to create a proprietary test to evaluate
individual authenticity. You can take the test at
www.normahollis.com. What I have learned is that there
are three basic components of authenticity. I have defined
these as Inner Voice, Outer Voice and Expressive Voice.
Authenticity stems from the Inner Voice – the degree to
which an individual listens to and follows the voice that
speaks within. Authenticity is strengthened through the
Outer Voice – how you are perceived by other people. And
it is enhanced through the Expressive Voice – how you live
your life on a day to day basis.
America’s Leading Authentic Voice Doctor®
Mentor, Transformational Artist ~ Visionary
Advocate of the Human Spirit
Authentic businesses create opportunities for customers
and employees to “feel” and “experience” the company. An
example of an authentic business is Starbucks where you
don’t just buy a cup of coffee. At Starbucks you get the
“experience” of coffee – networking with other people,
working on your laptop, playing chess, listening to
speakers and other ways that people engage and interact
when drinking coffee. Another example of an authentic
business is The American Girl Store. This company offers
girls the “experience” of being a girl by way of their doll.
They purchase the doll then the doll goes through the many
experiences that girls and their mothers go through –
getting their hair done, a manicure, selecting wardrobe, etc.
The young girl leaves the store having gone through the
“experience” of living, through her doll, as women do.
How authentic is your business? Do your customers receive
an experience when they interact with you? Are your
employees, customers and products/services aligned? Are
you authentic yourself and a role model for authenticity
within your business? Whatever your level of authenticity
and that of your business, it can be enhanced. Sustainable
businesses implement authenticity and thrive. Will yours be
one of them?
After developing the test and delving deeper into issues of
authenticity I began to examine how authenticity could be
applied to business. What I have come up is the three
components of authentic businesses. A business that is
authentic has a guiding Inner Voice - employees who share
a common vision and as a result enjoy working together.
Authentic businesses have a strong Outer Voice customers who embrace the vision and are loyal to the
company. Authentic businesses have a representative
Expressive Voice - products and services that live up to the
vision and meet the needs of the customers. And when
businesses create an alignment between employees,
customers and products/services they become even more
authentic.
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