Authenticity… A precious resource.
American Psycho the book made me gasp out loud on a train in London while reading on the way to work in 1999. So graphic was that page. Watching the film recently so many years later, I observed that although both as a book and a film it is equally terrifying and chilling to the core, the horror and gore aside, the really scary part is the depth of vacuity of the characters. The shallow nature of everyone’s interactions culminating towards the end in the protagonist actually confessing his crimes to his lawyer and finding out his own lawyer doesn’t even realise in person who he is — truly sad and disturbing.
The movie release was 2000, centers on the 80s and really made Christian Bale a force to be reckoned with in Hollywood. The interesting thing is that 20 years later in 2020, the issues remain the same. The need for authenticity and at least a palatable degree of sincerity and care is extremely prevalent as the global digital transformation continues and we conduct more and more of our lives and work on-line.
The thrilling prospect of full immersion in AI and its impact on everything from our smart homes to Human Resources signals yet more of a dependency on automated, ‘cold’ systems that will aim to mimic human interaction but in my view will never manage to replicate a feeling or generate any real warmth. As we propel further forwards to this reality at lightening speed, I am struck by how much more authenticity and the human element will be worth and indeed craved. To be yourself, in the flesh, in all its flawed vanity and insecurities will be a commodity indeed, to be human will be a treasure.
As human resource consultants and recruitment experts we dole out advice every day all day and we strive to impress upon our candidates in particular the need to be their best selves and how to display that in interview performance etc. The advice is solid and stands, being yourself and the best of your self you can be is the winner every time. We have a natural gravitation towards people who appear genuine, who instill in us a sense of safety because of the trueness to their delivery. Interviews and key work situations are no different, people can usually tell or sniff out when we are not credible or are faking it.
Meaningful relationships as the basis for all our successes and happiness both at work and at home have a foundation in sincerity and depth of feeling or authenticity. It stands to reason then that we cannot grow or evolve in any capacity without having the space to be our true selves, Alexa cannot do that for us. And with lives led digitally and emotion expressed more and more in text, we are having to learn better ways of getting this across in many mediums to ensure we stay true.
In short, there has never been a better time to be you, to be your best self.
