Earlier this week, Merriam-Webster announced AUTHENTIC as their word of the year.
Authentic is defined as:
✔Not false or imitation
✔True to one’s own personality, spirit, or character
✔Made or done the same way as an original
🎶 As I reflect on the word authentic, one of the first things that pops into my head is Blues music. I grew up with the sounds of Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Howlin’ Wolf, Big Mama Thornton, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, Robert Johnson, Koko Taylor, etc. filling our home. When you hear an artist sing from their soul & their lived experiences you can feel it in your bones, it makes the hair on your arm stand on end, & brings tears to your eyes & in your heart.
🎙 In 2019, my family took a music pilgrimage through the South to show our boys the heart of the Blues & the roots of Rock & Roll. We visited: Sun Studios, Beale Street, Fame Studios, Muscle Shoals Studios, The Delta Blues Museum, & the Crossroads. Each stop on our adventure brought us face to face with the people, stories, & spaces that helped shape the music we love. We learned more about the pain, systemic racism, & injustice that tried to quiet the voices of these artists. And at the same time, we heard the courage, perseverance, & authenticity that each artist exhibited to ensure their art would be heard by the masses. The experience deepened my bond to this music. When I hear the songs today, I can still feel a connection to those sacred spaces we visited.
❓ So, what does this mean for you?
✔ I would encourage you to reevaluate your 2024 CX strategic plan & ask yourself if your organization is delivering an AUTHENTIC experience, in alignment with your brand promises, to your customers, employees, & community?
✔Are there known processes, points of friction, or delivery methods that cause your brand to be in direct conflict (aka inAUTHENTIC ) with your promises? (e.g. Your brand promise of “making it easy” vs. a customer has to tell their story to six different customer service reps before they reach a resolution?)
🎶 Challenge yourself to use the lens of AUTHENTICity on your CX strategy & ensure you’re living up to your brand promises – every time, every day, to every customer, employee, & your wider community... Or else your organization will be singing the Blues. 🎼