Is Your Company The Real McCoy?

Is Your Company The Real McCoy? rnOne of my favorite Gary Larson cartoons is the one with the cardboard cutouts of a hillbilly family on the lawn of their mountain shack. The caption reads: The Fake McCoys. The term "Real McCoy" most likely comes from a railway invention by Elijah McCoy that automatically dripped oil to critical parts of the train instead of having to stop and let the oilman do it manually. Even though Elijah applied for and was granted a US Patent, there were many imitators. But none of them were as good as the "Real McCoy". How about you and your company? Are you the Real McCoy? Or are you trying to be something you're not? Are you trying to imitate your competition instead of being yourself? I see far too many small companies trying to look like big companies. I see big companies doing their best to come across as a small-town company. There are old enterprises attempting to look fresh and new, while brand new ones are trying to appear well established. All of these efforts burn up time, energy and resources. They rarely work well—if they work at all. People like to do business with people they like. And they like people who are like themselves. They don't really do business with a company—they do business with the people IN that company. Buyers today are savvy. They have more choices than ever before. And they can tell—at least at some level—whether or not the company and the people in it are congruent. They seek out, resonate with and tend to be loyal to companies that are authentic. It's not only a good thing to do, it's good business. Your uniqueness and the things you're best at doing are all part of your differentiating position. It's who you are—your identity. It's what people can relate to. If there's anything false, made up or covered over, your prospects will sense it. And they won't even be able to tell you why they didn't buy. As Emerson said so eloquently, "Who you are speaks so loudly, I can't hear what you say." The company that knows who they are, knows what they're really good at and communicates that effectively—without trying to be all things to all people—is usually way ahead of the pack. Is it easy? No, I don't think so. But it IS easier than trying to be something you're not. This principle—authenticity—is the most challenging and yet perhaps the simplest of all the 10 Pillars. Much like your core values, your authentic self isn't something to create but rather something to discover. Be who you are—no one else is better qualified. Most people—and most organizations—have never really thought about this. It starts with realizing that this process is worthy of some introspection. And it requires that we answer some tough questions. Who are we? Who are we being? How do we come across? What do we stand for? What are our core values? This goes far beyond our mission and our vision. It may be based on mission/vision, but it's more about the culture of our organization and how that culture is showing up in our business dealings. And this process is never complete. It demands that we get real. If we don't, we should prepare to become real irrelevant. If we're diligent to the task, and honest and true to ourselves and those we serve, we can have a company that everyone will know as the Real McCoy.