Ways to Become Known in Your Industry: Part Five, Authenticity and Profesionalism

In this series on ways to become known in your industry, I've covered a number of standard practices, including public speaking, writing, and public relations, as well as making sure you delight your customers and clients by delivering value and going beyond the call of duty. I've covered delivering value to grow your business in detail in a previous article, so today I'm focusing on authenticity and professionalism. Most of this series is devoted to people in the service and professional industries.

Authenticity
Authenticity is often defined as honesty and trustworthiness, but it really goes a step beyond that. Authenticity is critically important, especially in service industries. If you've heard it once, you've probably heard it a million times: People do business with people they know, like, and trust. Gaining the trust of people you want to do business with is important- and authenticity is a big part of that.

So how do you become more authentic? First, be honest with yourself and who you are. Tap into your inner self and make sure you're being authentic with yourself first. Understanding who you really are and what you can deliver can be accomplished with meditation, reflection, and introspection.

Second, get comfortable opening up about who you are with other people. Some of that comfort comes from letting people peek at what makes you human. Choose what to reveal about yourself, but be strategic about your openness and be smart about what you share. Above all, be honest about what you can deliver to your clients and honest about the timeframe in which you can deliver it- over-promising and under-delivering is a sure way to lose business and stop referrals.

As you become more authentic, you may be tempted to reveal too much about yourself and your personal life. But there's a fine line between being authentic and being too open, and professionalism is what creates the balance between credible honesty and oversharing.

Professionalism
Professionalism is, in essence, what keeps authenticity from becoming too personal. It's easy to be friendly and warm with customers and clients, but too much friendliness can lead to crossing boundaries and making your clientele uncomfortable. Remember, while you're being authentic, your clients are still clients and should be treated as such...not as friends.

Professionalism is about far more than just wearing a suit or nice clothes. It's about presenting yourself in a manner that creates confidence in your clientele that you know what you're talking about and can deliver what you've promised.

Professionalism dictates that you maintain certain boundaries that allow you to discuss some personal things without becoming too personal. For example, talking about your pets and vacations is a way of developing rapport, but mentioning your financial challenges or arguments with your spouse provides far too much information and that will cost you business.

Professionalism also keeps you focused on delivering value to your clients and making sure you do what you've promised them within the timeframe that you've laid out.

The balance between authenticity and professionalism can be challenging. Authenticity is about opening up and being honest about who you are so that your potential customers and clients feel comfortable and move into that "know, like, and trust" territory with you. Professionalism is about maintaining the boundaries that separate the personal from the "too personal" and keep you on-task.