I have a confession to make. I have a thing for expensive fragrances. It started with Chanel (Bleu) and Dior (Sauvage) but has moved onto Tom Ford (Out Wood) and Creed. (Aventus)
The feeling of having a shower and shave and then putting on a fragrance that smells great really sets me off to a good start of the day.
Some people would say its 'reassuringly expensive'
The latter fragrances are so expensive though! It can cost well over £250 for a 50ml bottle. Therefore I sometimes buy copy cat fragrances. These are not counterfeits but smell-a-likes. Perfectly legal and a fraction of the cost.They are similar in smell but not exact copies.
I got some Tom Ford copy yesterday and put it on. I loved it. It has notes of cardamon and sandalwood and made me feel a bit 'special'.
My wife hated it. She could tell immediately it was a copy. Her view is 'why buy a copy when you can have the real thing'. She always prefers the genuine article.
And it got me thinking about us. How often are we being the 'genuine article'. Are we being our authentic ourselves
You see, much as we think we are doing a good job at faking it, people mostly know if we are genuine or not. They are drawn to authenticity.
And more importantly, we know. It doesn't feel good when we are trying to be something we are not. Something grates inside us. It just feels, kinda off. And others can tell. Your staff can tell at a deep, often unconscious, level.
But there is another layer to this. When coaching I gently lead my clients to an even deeper level of authenticity, to find their 'true' selves. Before all the labels we wear, the persona we have created for ourselves, and the mould we have made for ourselves so we can fit into our surroundings.
And that is powerful beyond measure.
Martyn Dawes is a Coach, Social Care Consultant, and Author of The Overwhelmed Manager: What To Do When You Don’t Know What To Do
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