Being Authentic (in Business) - Why so important
- Topic:
Bizness
- Article By:
Reuben
- Photo:
What does it mean to be authentic?
...What is authenticity? Authenticity is defined as: 1. Undisputed credibility. 2. The quality of being genuine or not corrupted from the original. 3. Authentic - not counterfeit or copied.
How important is authenticity in the world of business?
If we are to continue to grow both in life as well as in business, it is important for us to learn from not only the successes of others, but from their failures as well. The following is one young couple's example of how authenticity in business can make or break your flow and ultimately impact your career.
The world of website design – the start of our journey
We've all heard the phrase “Write What Ya' Know” well I believe the same holds true when it comes to web design and even to some extent development. It's equally important to “Design What Ya' Know.”
When my wife and I first started on our web and new media journey back in 2001, we had this idea of what we wanted to do, an exact idea of the type of designs we'd do and the styles we'd perfect. Somewhere along the first or second year however, we kinda course corrected by following the assertions of other people. No matter how well meaning, this was the worst mistake we could have made – it really had a big impact on the enjoyment we had of our work and to an extent the quality of our work.
We had started out with the intent that we'd fill a need within the urban community, and make sites for creatives and industries within that community. Most of our business advisers were neither techies, nor creatives, nor experienced with investing in the urban community. They could only make sense of dollars and cents, so when they took a look at the potential in the web at the time they advised us to go after a completely different market – one they believed would bring a greater return on their investment in us. And as a result, we went from being very satisfied in our work and producing some really novel, unique and creative, sometimes even cutting edge work, to makin' it vanilla.
I remember a time when we were hired to do some work for a service oriented corporation. They liked what they saw in our portfolio, and yet wanted us to basically create a copy of someone else's corporate style work (the complete opposite of who we are). With some real trepidation we proceeded forward and did our best to give them what they wanted, but the work really suffered. Thankfully, they were happy with the end product, but unfortunately we weren't. We felt that we could have produced much better work if we hadn't allowed ourselves to be forced into being something we weren't.
I'd like to say that that was the last time we had made that mistake, but it wasn't. We continued on making this same mistake for several more years, and for several more years we were very unhappy with our work. It wasn't satisfying, nor at the high bar that we had previously set for ourselves.
An Epiphany
“Write Design What Ya' Know” means realizing that every designer has their own style or genre' where they truly excel. Once you find your sweet spot - the style your happiest doin' and the style that brings the most satisfaction to you creatively as well as professionally and displays your best work, hone that style. Be the best at it.
We learned this the hard way, but we eventually learned it. We now do a modern upscale twist on urban style (our original vision). It's a very simplistic and minimalistic approach to urban design. It's what we're good at and what we do best. We no longer try to do anything else if we can help it. It's our belief that every project we do should not only add to our financial stability, but to our portfolio and ultimately to our career as well. What good does it do your career if after you've finished a project you don't even want to put in on your portfolio?
Once we had come to this realization for ourselves, we decided to take on only projects that we would be proud to put our stamp on - proud to have on our portfolio, and it was as if a weight had been lifted off of our shoulders. We were much more focused, and in turn started to put out work that we were proud of, which in turn ultimately led to more of the work that we wanted to do.
We had learned a valuable lesson: There's no crime in not bein' able to do everything. You can still be great and do one thing, so long as you do that one thing Great! So now if someone approaches us and wants us to do work for them, if they haven't checked out portfolio first, then that's exactly where we send them. If they aren't feelin' our portfolio work, then we aren't the right team for them, and ultimately we aren't a good fit for each other.
The Benefit of being authentic
Being honest is part of being authentic. Being authentic and keepin' it real is to be sincere and honest, not only about who you are, but also about what you can or cannot do well. Don't be ashamed to be honest and tell your clients (or potential clients) that your not the right fit for their project, and refer them to someone who is a better suited team for their project.
'Keepin' it real' is also about genuineness, so be yourself no matter what that may mean. If for instance what you do is contrary to what's popular, but still relevant in some way, have the courage and inner fortitude to 'just do you,' but do it with confidence, dignity, and presence.
See what Reuben & Sherri are up to today!
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