Yesterday I commented on the differences between the economies of 2008 and 2001 and Americans’ reactions in these instances. I wrote that I’ve had an abundance of calls about engaging me for my history-based seminars, workshops, and in some cases, books and articles. I’d like to pick up on this last point, if I may.

One of the things for which I’ve always strived is the real, the authentic. Much of my work flies in the face of standard management consulting and leadership self-help advice. Even when I’m agreeing with the cliches and trite witticisms of conventional thinking, on many occasions my placement of these accepted statements in a dramatic, surprising historical context gives them a new and different feel. It’s authentic.

That’s a big part of what attracts people, especially in 2011 and our current life. So much of the swirl around us–from media, marketing, celebrity, and a hundred other things that comprise entertainment, info-tainment, leisure, and purposeful distraction–is fake, artificial, or pretended. The challenge isn’t just avoiding…because you almost really can’t avoid it. The bigger challenge is knowing how to live within the swirl and learning to filter the grains of truth and real from the globs of trash and junk. Living well and filtering well.

Rummage in your mind right now about those things that attract you, interest you, hold deep meaning for you. They’re authentic. And genuine. And enduring. And real. They are truth, and they become Truth. 

I suppose a MBA graduate would say I’ve built the authentic into my business model. I guess so. My preference, however, is to say I spend my time–and yours–on the River.