The Genuine Article
02/2012




Every day, in the face of the many small compromises and delicate situations forced onto us by life, we are confronted with obstacles that prevent us from being as authentic as we could be or want to be. On top of that, authenticity itself is challenging because it is difficult to be open and honest about ourselves, including our blemishes. It is, however, an essential quality, because – well, because of many reasons, some of which you’ll find in these pages. It has to be said, though, that authenticity means different things to different people: what’s true and real for some can ring hollow for someone else. For the purposes of this issue of Communication Director, we’ve taken authenticity to mean communicating the essentials of your organisation and remaining true to them, internally and externally, through good times and bad. A too-simple framework, perhaps, but a convenient one to set the stage for the articles we’ve collected to explore this subject. Majda Tafra looks back on her experiences implementing the first corporate social responsibility report by Coca-Cola, and ponders its significance as an authentic act; Hetty van Emmerik and Merel Kats show us how to inspire genuine engagement in our employees; Tracy Meisterheim offers an exciting new paradigm for real leadership; and Susan Campbell teaches us how to cut out the extraneous noise and get down to more honest conversations. But what’s the value of all this authenticity? In this economic climate, everything comes at a price, and must be shown their worth in terms of return on investment. Valerie Bockstette tells us how, by being true to their competitive ethos, businesses are in a better position to create benefits for society and for themselves. Sometimes honesty is truly the best policy. We hope you enjoy this issue of our magazine.

Marc-Oliver Voigt
Publisher
marc-oliver.voigt@communication-director.eu