Real takes courage.

Posted on February 25th, 2010 by Robbin and currently 10 commenting.

Eric Dodds getting real with a tequila shot…

“What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy up the room. “Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?”

Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become REAL.”

Real takes courage.

I love that set of words. Being real as company or a person flat out takes courage. I met someone the other day and much to my surprise, I realized the online version of this person (on facebook and twitter and blogs) was much, much different than the reality. I walked away saying – to myself of course — “Oh, you must be one those people that just plays a character on Twitter.” There’s a lot of personal branding going on these day. And like corporate branding sometimes there is a dis-connect between image and reality. Bugs me a bit. But enough of that. That is not my main point.

We have this saying, be famous for the people who love you.

The people who love you know what’s absolutely real. They can spot a dis-connect in a second. This is true for companies and for people. The word branding has always bugged us. We use “identity” for a reason. We look for the soul of a company or the community they support.

We are looking for what’s real.

I read somewhere lately that it takes a lot of energy to be someone you are not. And that is really true. One of the things I love about this age of word of mouth marketing and social media, is this: Companies and organizations are understanding that their brand is walking around on two feet. That’s what is real. Several companies we are currently working with and talking to are looking to create an internal movement to help everyone in the organization present one voice, one reality.

I am lucky, I get to talk to people within organizations all day long who are looking for our help. It’s fun. I spoke with someone at an large Fortune 500 company the other night. And as we chatted one of the things I realized about that organization is this. The people there, all the way to the top are real. They are approachable and honest and direct. From the frontline customer service reps to the corporate team, they understand on some level that they are part of something bigger. Something important. Got to love that.

So one more parting quote… don’t know who said this but I love it:

“Be yourself. Everyone else is taken.”

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