When I was 10, the hot toys every kid wanted were Hot Wheels. Hot Wheels were little metal cars that you would run on orange tracks. I’ve talked about Hot Wheels many times in my workshops.
Mattel, the manufacturer of Hot Wheels released a second product called Rumblers. Rumblers were little metal motorcycles with rubber tires and a little rubber figure that rode the bike. My little brother and I loved those things.
One Thursday evening, my mom took us to the grocery store. We did our weekly shopping on Thursday and my special treat was to get a bag of candy in preparation to watch Kung Fu on TV that night.
As we went down the aisle where they sell magazines and cheap toys, I looked up and saw they had a 3-pack of Rumblers. My brother and I begged our mom to buy them and finally she agreed. On the way home, we started fighting over who would get two Rumblers and who would get one. I thought I should since I was the oldest and because my brother was a pain in the ass. He thought he should have them because I always got the best of everything. My mom settled it by telling we had to share or she would keep all three.
But when we opened the package, we knew something was wrong. The Rumblers were made of cheap plastic. The rider was made of a squishy, rubbery material. My brother called them “jello men.” It was a major disappointment.
Authenticity means you are who you say you are, all of the time. When someone says somebody is “the real deal,” it means they are authentic.
It used to really bother me when we would roll up to church on Sunday morning with my mom and dad having a wicked argument. Then, as soon as we opened the door it was as if everything was perfect. It all seemed so in-authentic to me. Especially when the argument resumed on the ride home.
Most of us default assuming everything is authentic. It’s only when we’ve been proved wrong that we become skeptical. Then, it’s hard to ever see that person as authentic.
As we start into this new year, maybe it’s time to re-calibrate our authenticity. When we say we’ll do something, do people think we actually will? When we show up, will it match people’s expectations? People are comfortable when working with authentic people.
I still think about Rumblers when I walk past the toy aisle at Publix. Amazing how that lesson from years ago still holds value today.