“We believe that only genuine people can make lasting impressions on those around them. We share our beliefs and intentions so that we can authentically connect with those we meet.”
We all value authenticity and yet it is the hardest value to define, much less teach. At Red Door, we believe that authenticity starts with self-awareness and it extends to interacting with other people in a genuine way. In order to be authentic, you need to know who you are and who you are made to be. You need to know your values, beliefs, and priorities. As a company, we have defined our values, beliefs, and priorities in our mission statement, our values, and our goals so that our customers see who we are. We believe this is just as important for us to do as individuals.
As a business, being authentic means that we communicate our beliefs and intentions with our customers and our staff. We own our mistakes if we fall short of what we hope to deliver. And as a Christian, I have no need to put up a false front because I know that I am inherently valuable as a child of God—I do not derive my worth from my actions, successes, or failures.
Outside of business, we can clearly see how valuable authenticity is all around us. It seems like there are endless debates about how “real” or “fake” things are: news headlines, advertisements, people, etc. Authenticity versus image in a business is just like character versus reputation in a person. What’s the difference? I’ve learned that your reputation represents who you are in the public eye—how you act and what you say—while your character illustrates who you are when no one is watching. If who you are when all eyes are on you is vastly different from who you are in private, then people will wonder if what they’re seeing is merely your reputation, your image. Being authentic is as simple as the age-old saying, “If you’re going to talk the talk, you’d better walk the walk.”
We believe that authenticity is foundational to our mission of building real relationships and, let’s be honest with ourselves, we all want to interact with authentic people.
Resources: “Authentic Leadership” from the Harvard Business Review
