February 2008

Can an employee be “too authentic”?

February 28, 2008

Tweet “The guy was too authentic to do his job!” The employee in question worked for an organization that created “lifestyle” products for the action sports market. He worked as an editor and was responsible for updating the organization’s website every morning. The organization positioned itself as having authentic insight into the action sports community, […]

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Every organization has an authenticity story. What’s yours?

February 28, 2008

Tweet Every organization has an authenticity story. And, anyone who has worked in an organization has a story about authenticity. I am looking for interesting stories, illuminating examples, and intriguing dilemmas related to authenticity in organizations and the authenticity of organizations. Whenever I talk with someone about my research and consulting interests, that person has […]

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You don’t have to ‘live the brand’ to give the brand

February 22, 2008

Tweet “Living the Brand”, an internally-focused branding strategy  heralded by marketing gurus , is being touted in the March 2008 issue of the Harvard Business Review. HBR features a case discussion about how to achieve organizational authenticity at the fictional Hunsk motorcycles. Marty, Hunsk’s new marketing manager, is intent on reinvigorating Hunsk’s brand by making […]

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It’s not that hard to recognize an organization’s authenticity. Even a child can do it.

February 16, 2008

Tweet “Mom, this company really shows their believingness.” So said my nine-year-old daughter. She had just noticed that the tag hanging from the T-shirt I gave her for Valentine’s Day was made from “100% post-consumer waste”. She already knew that the T-shirt was from a company called PositiviTee, that the graphic image printed on the […]

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The New York Junior League: To be more authentic, practice what you preach

February 9, 2008

Tweet If an organization wants to be seen as inauthentic, all it needs to do is to say one thing and do another. When an organization creates a gap between ‘who we say we are’ and ‘how we act’, it creates a common and avoidable authenticity challenge. This authenticity challenge is made even worse when […]

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