Good evening, thank you for coming.
We are here this evening to celebrate the launch of a movement and of a book – both of them are about authenticity. A subject which, by definition, requires the author to live it.
I began this journey two years ago with a set of questions:
How would it be if no one exploited any one or anything and no one felt exploited?
How would it be if everyone felt confident of their purpose and place in society?
How would it be if we all worked towards a common aim – happiness and quality of life for all for example?
How would it be if companies collaborated to achieve this aim rather than competed for their own short-term gain?
How would it be if every business, like these businesses here, were authentic?
It seems to me that virtually all of the problems we face as a society (with the exception of a few earthquakes) are the consequence of human decisions.
That being the case, I conclude that, as a society, we cannot be very good at taking decisions.
So, I have to ask, why are we not good at taking decisions?
My conclusion is that we are not good at taking decisions because we do not trust ourselves, we do not trust our intuition, our instinct or our emotions.
Why do we not trust ourselves?
Again, my conclusion is that the way many of us are brought up and the education system we have been through was designed specifically to create conformity and to diminish our trust in ourselves and our intuition.
As a result we like to take what we imagine are rational decisions. Which would be fine – if they took account of all of the data. The reality is that more than half of the data is in the future and the data we do use is only a tiny proportion of that which is available, and that is selected emotionally anyway.
In order to take better decisions where we balance the rational with the intuitive we need to trust ourselves. In order to trust ourselves we need to know who we truly are, what our natural languages or innate skills are and what our purpose is in life.
Authenticity is about knowing your own true purpose, living it and trusting it and yourself. Your authentic business is a business which derives its profits from pursuing that purpose.
Most businesses not based in authenticity are based in exploitation. They seek to exploit, markets, resources, opportunities and so on. The purpose of these exploitation-based businesses is the redistribution of wealth. They take wealth from the environment and the population and transfer it to a few senior executives and the shareholders.
Everything else, the cars, cameras or computers, that these exploitation based companies do is just a by product of that process of wealth redistribution.
Many of these companies find it hard to motivate their staff. Perhaps it is because these staff do not find spending the best part of their day working to make someone else rich very inspiring?
As the self-serving behaviour of exploitation based business, government and other institutions becomes more and more extreme, so people are searching for something more relevant to their lives. This search has lead to a deep hunger for meaning which pervades our society, which the established institutions and distractions of drink, drugs and other addictions are failing to satisfy. More and more people are discovering that the true path to happiness and fulfilment lies within and does not rely on the empty promises of governments, corporate life or the distractions of consumerism.
The good news is that there is an alternative. That alternative is to find and live your own authentic life and to understand that through authenticity you can make a living by being yourself without compromising. The businesses that people found when they are working with authenticity are not without their difficulties but they are worth the effort because they are about something bigger and they are authentic.
From my experience of working with many of them I know that authentic businesses with a positive purpose enjoy three fundamental advantages over exploitation based businesses.
1. They are better at taking decisions because they are emotionally connected with what they do.
2. They are more motivated because they care about what they are doing.
3. They enjoy support from outside the company –from suppliers, customers and even competitors – because they support what they are doing.
These six companies – Yeo Valley Organics, Solarcentury, CafÈ Direct, Howies, Organic Express and innocent are all examples of authentic businesses driven by their own positive purpose.
The benefits of authenticity are reflected in their results. These are some of the most exciting, dynamic, motivated and inspiring companies in the UK. Ironically they remain below the radar of most of the mainstream business media precisely because they have not sold out and they retain the authenticity that makes them so compelling to customers, staff and investors.
My company, Authentic Business, started as an on-line newsletter and web site designed to support authentic businesses. Over two years it has grown to include:
Authentic Guides – a network strategists, coaches, trainers, marketers and facilitators dedicated to helping authentic businesses flourish
Authentic Business Network – a mutually supportive, trading, co-marketing and learning network of authentic businesses.
Sister company Authentic PR – who help businesses communicate with integrity and have been so instrumental in the success of this evening, Authentic Business and the book.
And soon to be launched Authentic Capital which will provide investment funding for authentic businesses so that they do not have to sell out ideologically and a good return to investors.
All of this is the start of our work towards the creation of an authentic business sector which by it’s example and success will lead other businesses to follow until authentic business becomes the mainstream norm.
Beyond that the opportunities for our society are limitless imagine authentic education, authentic government, authentic health care and policing and no one needing to feel a tension between who they are and what they do.
Offer: Authentic Guides offer strategic, marketing, training and facilitation support for authentic businesses – see Authentic Guides section for more information or contact neil@authenticbusiness.co.uk
Authentic PR offers communications for businesses with integrity for more information contact Kat@authenticpr.co.uk