Ep #42: The Art of Authentic Leadership

On today’s episode we are talking about the art of authentic leadership. This is a conversation I'm really excited to have because the shift to authentic leadership is something that we've really seen take prominence in the last few years.

I explore with you what it means to be an authentic leader and why it’s important for each of us to show up in an authentic way. I look at how authentic leadership serves our organisations, our teams and our industries in a meaningful way. I also explore the challenges that we have in our industry around authenticity.

Often this idea of authentic leadership is tied to vulnerability and, showing up as who we are. This can be really challenging at work, particularly for women in our industry. For such a long time in order to be successful in property and construction, you very much had to conform to the male way of doing things.

I also explain why authenticity is not just about leaders showing up authentically, it's actually part of a much broader cultural shift that needs to occur within property and construction. I discuss why we need to tackle this cultural shift head-on and how it requires a fundamental shift in terms of mindset and behaviours, not only for leaders but also for employees at all levels of an organization.

We also need to talk about the opportunities for women within these organisations. How do we develop female talent, given the unconscious bias (and sometimes outright discrimination) that to this day continues for women in this industry?

Sometimes this change will face resistance. Some people really struggle with this idea of showing up as their true selves in a work context. People are hesitant to show up as being vulnerable or to express their emotions for fear of judgment, for fear of rejection or repercussions.

As we drive change and as we try to address some of these issues the cultural change that goes along with it is not something that can happen subtly or that we can expect to just filter down. It is something that we need to be talking about openly and exploring across organisations.

When leaders do this well and when they set up a cultural shift to create an environment of authenticity across their workforce, that is when compassionate leadership shows up.

So take heed, show up with courage, show up with conviction and be your own authentic self. The more each of us can show up authentically and encourage others to do the same, the better our industries will be.