No room for the Social Chameleon -The Case for Authenticity in the Remarkable Workplace

Did you ever wonder why some companies become so amazing and others wither and die?   How do some companies continue to reinvent themselves over and over again to greater heights while others only succeed in elaborate downsizing plans?

  I am convinced that authenticity plays a vast role in business success.

I have had a fascinating career having worked in awesome business cultures and those that were once great but declined rapidly when authenticity went out the window.  With my college degree in hand I was excited to join the greatest brand in the world … at the time.

Eastman Kodak Company 

Kodak was awesome.  There were so many brilliant and exciting people all working toward common goals across the various business units.  And what could be more exciting than selling someone their memories in a $3 box.  I found wonderful role models.  However as the company that invented the digital camera, they saw their demise rather than the opportunity to grow and expand photography.  Truth and fear were buried.  Great separations arose in the company as people aligned with either the growth proponents or those who saw inevitable destruction.  There was very little honesty from management because they feared losing critical talent.  As downsizing accelerated, the musical chairs game was the most popular game in town with less and less chairs every year.  And the survivors?  While there were many great people still striving to save the company, there were more and more social chameleons, the ones who played the game.  In-authenticity was the rewarded behavior.

AirTouch Cellular

I was so fortunate to join AirTouch, an incredible company with the best corporate culture I have ever experienced. As a Director of Marketing I had very little knowledge of the industry except my own insights as a consumer but I was welcomed for what I knew about branding and marketing.  Management was open and honest and on many occasions the head of the company would sit down and truly listen to employees at all levels.  There was trust and respect as employees worked together toward common goals.  Employees gave their hearts and souls to their work and it truly paid off in the results of the company and the rewards we received as employees.  (AirTouch was one of the three companies to become part of the original Verizon Wireless.) 

However, what made this company truly great was that it was okay to honestly voice your opinion.  Sales, marketing, operations and customer service met weekly and we planned together.  If we disagreed because of our different responsibilities, we worked through those disagreements as a team to create the best workable solutions.  And best of all, we walked out of those meetings as friends with no hard feelings because we were all working toward the same goals.  The ability to be honest and authentic unlocks creativity and innovation and it made this company amazing. 

The true difference between these two organizations was how they valued authenticity.  Now that I own my own company, Stowebridge Promotion Group, I apply much of what I learned from these experiences. We have an absolutely incredible team.

Stever Robbins, CEO advisor, consultant and coach, says “transparency and authenticity build a trusting relationship in which people are more likely to bring their full creativity, commitment, and motivation to work. The way you treat your employees will be mirrored in the way your employees treat your customers. Treat your employees poorly and they’ll pass that treatment along to your customers.”

Teri Hockett, founder, owner, and Chief Empowerment Officer of What's For Work, agrees that transparency and authenticity are critical elements of the workplace. “Employees expect it nowadays, and they’re looking for employers to be authentic and transparent about things, because they want to help. When work environments invite everyone into the process of improvement, they excel in the marketplace and end up with employees that become extremely loyal.”  (http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2013/10/04/how-to-create-an-authentic-and-transparent-work-environment)

Authenticity is a huge differentiator in the workplace – it makes all the difference.  Do you want to spend your day being creative and innovative, focused on driving the company to great success?  Or do you prefer to spend your day in competition with other employees to impress management through flattery, attempting to stand out in meetings, and creating the most impressive PowerPoint presentations?   I choose the authentic workplace.

Coming soon – How to create the authentic workplace.

Kathy Finnerty Thomas is the President of Stowebridge Promotion Group. She leads a company culture based on a strong vision and values which can only happen with strong authenticity, integrity and trust.  She actively volunteers at the university level speaking to students and mentoring as well as giving talks about exceptional customer service, a values base culture and leadership.