Creating Authentic Organizations

The full and original work published in Creating Authentic Organizations by Robin Ryde and Lisa Sofianos; content taken from Simply Communicate

In years to come authenticity will be understood as a key variable that separates successful from failing businesses, happy from disengaged workforces, and adaptive from inflexible organisations.

What does it mean to be authentic at work, and why it is important?

Think of authenticity as the degree to which one is true to one’s own personality, spirit or character, despite external pressure. Much of our mental energy, our ideas, our passions, our physical effort and our time is deployed at work. The work we do goes some way to describing who we are, what we stand for and it reveals, in one dimension at least, a tangible and valued contribution that we make to the world. Authenticity and work matter. Not only does this deliver a benefit to the task but it also raises capability across, and for, the organisation.

Authenticity between colleagues and across all level of the system is of first order importance. Employees and culture come first in constructing authenticity and with it comes the benefits discussed, including trust, responsibility, accountability and engagement. With authentic people, we create authentic organisations. Where there is greater authenticity organisations will adapt more quickly and much more effectively to the volatile circumstances of the operating environment. This is a ‘win-win’ that is worth fighting for.