Diversity Coffee Connect: Authenticity in Leadership: More Than Just Being Yourself

What does it really mean to be an authentic leader? We often hear phrases such as “be yourself” or “bring your whole self to work”, but in practice these ideas can feel complex, especially in leadership roles where expectations, responsibilities, lived experience and professional boundaries all come into play.

In this Diversity Coffee Connect session we will consider what authentic leadership means in today’s workplace, the benefits it can bring for trust, inclusion, and performance, and some of the common pitfalls that can arise when authenticity is misunderstood or applied without reflection.

What you can expect:

We will start the session with an introduction from the team, then participants will be put into smaller groups to allow for deeper reflection and conversation.

Prior to this event, to help inform our conversations, we encourage you to have a look at some optional, suggested reading on this topic:

• 2 minute watch – The Authenticity Paradox | Professor Herminia Ibarra | TEDxLondonBusinessSchool  (the full 16-minute TEDx Talk is here)
• 5 minute read – Forbes – Authentic Leadership for Managers: Be the Leader They Follow
• 10 minute read – Authenticity and atypicality in leadership: Can an atypical leader afford to be authentic?

 The session will encourage participants to think about the relationship between their personal values, identity, and leadership practice. We will explore questions such as: How much of ourselves should we share at work? How do we remain authentic while adapting to different contexts and spaces?