When you hear someone saying โoh, she is so authenticโ, what comes to your mind?
If youโre like most people, perhaps an image of someone publicly sharing something deeply personal might come to mind.
Thatโs where the word authenticity is being misused. Thatโs also probably the reason why experts like Seth Godin tell us to forget trying to create authenticity and go for being professional.
Let me share my point of view on authenticity for personal branding.
Sharing something personal and getting emotional is someone being vulnerable. Iโve done this once before with the intention of helping the people I seek to serve.
However, being vulnerable does not equate to being authentic. In other words, vulnerability is not a prerequisite to becoming an authentic brand.
The vulnerability expert, Brรฉne Brown, explains that not everyone deserves your vulnerability.
While showing our vulnerability might be incredibly potent when creating connections with people who are important to us (Iโll let you define โimportantโ in this context), that does not mean we have to show up being vulnerable in the name of authenticity.
Authenticity can be systematic and methodical in many ways. How? If I were to define it as โshow up as you areโ, it means not pretending to be someone other than who we are. Iโm not a happy-go-lucky dancing queen kind of person so you wonโt find me dancing in IG Reels. What you often find me doing is sharing snippets of books Iโm reading. Thatโs me being authentic.
If youโve gone through my Brand Build Series, youโll know about Brand Emotion Keywords. They help you represent yourself authentically.
Some may argue that we are more complex and nuanced than three or four keywords. Sure our life is more complex but our brand doesnโt have to be. More to the point, it cannot be. It needs to be focused and simple.
I suggest saving vulnerability for a very special (small) group of people. And you can still be authentic, which is based on who you are, how others perceive you and what you & your audience value the most.
If you missed the Brand Building Series, you can find it here.
