‘I think authenticity is a mode, like a style of leadership. You can be really authentic as a leader whilst maintaining credibility and professionalism.’
Alexis Alexander, General Counsel of fintech organisation Liberis, discusses the power of authenticity and honesty in leadership. Alexis’s experience at Liberis has taught her how feeling trusted at an executive level in an organisation encourages and allows for authenticity. She believes strongly in being authentic with her team members and by doing so she believes they feel supported to be the same. Leaders less likely to admit to failure or mistakes are more likely to cover up wrongdoings leading to governance issues.
If you would like to hear more from Alexis’ experience, why not have a listen to the full interview on Spotify or Apple.
Key Insights
- The power of authenticity in creating trusted and supportive professional relationships
- The value in admitting mistakes to get healthy feedback
- How the pandemic has been a leveller for work practices
The following is a short excerpt from Trust and Leadership featuring conversation between Alexis Alexander (General Counsel of Liberis) and Chris Downie (CEO Pasabi).
Chris Downie: It’s an interesting one keeping that kind of authenticity especially as you said in a kind of flat hierarchy. There’s an inherent thing about senior people and you go, well I don’t know if I should be challenging that person but then if you create that kind of structure of openness and challenge, I feel I’ve seen a lot of benefit from that.
Alexis Alexander: I also feel, let’s be honest with ourselves. We’re in the middle of a kind of war on talent right now and the attrition and churn… these are all things organisations need to address. And I do think, it’s not only the right thing to do and important for so many ethical reasons, but actually it’s a competitive advantage to have authenticity in leadership. If you’re basically getting buy-in from your valuable employees, that will encourage them to stay with you and encourage loyalty to a degree.
Photo Credit: Tobias Mrzyk