AUTHENTICITY: WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET
The world of fine art is fascinating. Every year, millions of dollars are spent to procure pieces of artwork from those that are considered masters. In fact, the top 10 pieces of art work sold at auction, including several Picasso pieces, a van Gogh, and two Monet’s, which combined sold for just under 1 billion dollars.
Have you ever though about what is so attractive about these pieces of art? Without a doubt, any piece of art can be replicated with a great deal of detail and technical accuracy. All the skill in the world, however, only leads to cheap replicas in comparison. There is one very important element that separates the original from the copy. Authenticity.
Something about us craves the authentic. The fact that someone would pay over $100 Million dollars for an authentic Picasso when they could have a near perfect replica commissioned for $1000 should tell us something. People will fly halfway around the world to see the Mona Lisa, but won’t go across town to see a replica of the masterpiece at a local coffee shop. When we walk into an ethnic restaurant and are greeted by someone of that nationality, it tells our brain “authentic”, and we relax. If we don’t, there is a lack of congruency that causes the mind to have to recalibrate in order to size up the experience.
What Authenticity is then is congruency. It means that the outside match the inside (Thanks to Viktra for reminding me). Authenticity, by definition is hard if not impossible to fake; even though people in our life may turn off their filter after time, it doesn’t mean that we are authentic, and it doesn’t mean they trust us deeply.
Like the world of Art, I believe to varying degrees we fall into one of three categories when it comes to authenticity:
1.) The Starving Artist. This person strives to be authentic, and they believe it has to come at all costs. They have a passion for painting, or music that is original and authentic and are content to make music that very little people enjoy, create paintings that don’t sell, and work at a job that allows them to be themselves, because deep down they believe that their authenticity will cause the world to wake up one day and discover them. People trust this person because they know how to categorize them and what to expect from them. They are safe…but they don’t add tremendous value.
2.) The Forger. This person strives to be highly skilled, and that skill comes at all cost. They have a passion to be seen as a master. The outside is the goal, the inside gets very little or no attention. They are more of a mirror than anything, working hard to add as little distortion to what they are trying to reflect as possible. They believe that to be authentic, congruent, and transparent would be like a jail sentence. It would be to admit that all they have done was hollow. People don’t trust this person, they are not safe because there is no telling what is really going to happen. This person can add extreme value when they have something to offer that is needed, but those that work hard to be art appraisers will keep them at arms length even when receiving value from them. The most impressive people won’t be impressed by your forgery.
3.) Authentic and Masterful. This person strives to be both at a deep level. “What you see is what you get”, and make sure that what you see and get is ever growing and becoming more valuable to the world around them. This comes at a cost. To work towards both means that recognition is slow coming even though the work is harder. You can’t simply have a little bit of both, it’s an all or nothing proposition. They see that putting their energy into growth instead of masking the world leads them to be trusted, respected, and puts people at ease. People trust them because they know where to categorize them. People have grace for their weakness and look to fill those gaps because they don’t pretend they are not there.
If you have a passion to make an impact with your life, may I recommend something? No one succeeds alone, and the people you need in your life are people that are highly successful. They don’t spend their time with the starving artist, and the forger won’t be in their life long if at all. They are attracted (just like you and I) by those who are authentic and working towards mastery. As you grow as a Leader, check to see if your artwork is your own, and it it’s getting better. If it’s not, either you have a low level of living through authenticity, or you’re not being authentic. Time for an authentic growth moment.
