Innovate, don’t Imitate!

“Be yourself. The world worships an original”

Ingrid Bergman

As entrepreneurs emerge from their chrysalis with new born ideas, they are exposed to a myriad of temptations and advice to take short cuts in their endeavours to be successful. However, in doing so they risk making the biggest mistake of all – losing their authenticity!

Being authentic means:

• Living your core signature (identity) and maintaining it at all times
• Highlighting your true ‘purpose’ rather than just showcasing your products and services
• Outlining and sharing your own objectives and vision with genuine enthusiasm
• Being consistent in your branding, marketing and what you stand for (avoid mixing messages)
• Confidently being yourself personally and virtually at every opportunity:  i.e. meetings, pitches and presentations as well as via social media platforms
• Actively engaging with your audience through platforms and media that resonate for you. i.e. if you can’t stand the thought of Tweeting, don’t do it!
• Openly sharing wisdom, advice and inside information where appropriate, but only sharing things of worth – not for the sake of it or for cheap gain! (and don’t piggy back onto other’s efforts unless invited!)
• Highlighting your achievements and experience on websites and across social media but being selective in positioning yourself, showcasing your expertise and experience in sync with your identity
• Making promises you can be sure to keep
• Being accountable for your actions
• Above all – staying true to yourself, your brand and your vision.

Why? …because today’s readers, business people and marketers are as savvy as they’ve ever been and our connected world has taught us to detect subtle differences between the genuine article and the dodgy deal. You can’t just tell someone that you are authentic any more than you can tell someone you’re trustworthy. You have to prove your authenticity. You have to earn the title. You only need to look at recent corporate scandals where their share price has plummeted as news of corrupt, scandalous and fraudulent activity became public. In our world of spam, automated cold calling, hacking and worse, we hunger after genuine authenticity more than ever. People don’t just hanker for a great product or service any more, they’re looking for real experiences too. An experience that is more honest and transparent …more authentic – even if it comes in extreme guises such as Trump’s presidency campaign!

Yes, it’s very tempting to imitate the success of others, particularly if you’re struggling for ideas and under pressure to deliver, but the danger is that you’re left with a patchwork quilt of ideas, confused branding, mixed messaging and inconsistent marketing techniques that never quite flow and gel together at each attempt to penetrate the marketplace.

So, aim to remain true to yourself, your identity and your vision – it may take longer with more patience and hard work – but you are far more likely to survive as you emerge the genuine article. When we are strong enough to be authentic, others often respect us more for it. We also like ourselves more when we are authentic. Studies show that self-esteem is greatest when we act in line with our values, and, conversely suffers the most when we behave in ways that don’t reflect them. When we are genuine, we are more consistent in our actions.

Danielle Laporte hits the nail on the head where she talks about connecting to our ‘Daimon’ – our inner voice. Each and every one of us is unique and as such we need to evoke our own sense of authenticity rather than borrowing or stealing from another’s. After all, its theirs, not yours and will not work for you!

Therefore, learn from others, even adopt their strategic nous, but above all don’t imitate. All that will happen is your quilt will unravel and you will end up without an identity or a core brand from which to fall back on because you never developed one in the first place. Find your own voice and use it to effect. Aim at being authentic, not false or copied, but genuine and real. After all,

“If you’re your authentic self, you have no competition!”

Scott Stratten

Matt Guiver (MAC, IDI®QA) is a transformational coach, trainer and speaker & founder of Jumpstone International: jumpstoneinternational.com. He recently launched JumpSpark Creative Coaching Sessions to help those looking for creative ideas, a strategic steer or a trusted soundboard to gain insight and direction to their business objectives.