HR Heads Breakfast Forum, 28 September 2017
We were delighted to host an interactive Breakfast Forum with Donna Hubbard, founder of Be Dynamic Coaching & Training, on Thursday 28 September in Southampton. We really enjoyed seeing some of the many smiling faces of HR come together for a few hours of thought leadership and topical discussions and we have welcomed the positive feedback received since!
Donna Hubbard is a mindset coach and professional speaker who helps teams and businesses to humanise their approach to staff engagement. Having appeared on Sky News, guest lectured at Southampton University and contributed to Women’s Fitness Magazine – Donna can now add ‘presented at the HR Heads Breakfast Forum’ to the impressive list!
You can catch up with Donna on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
The session, entitled ‘The Power of Authentic Leadership’ explored the meaning of being authentic-selves as leaders, the link between authenticity and trust, and how you can create environments where your people can thrive as the unique individuals they are. In today’s self-aware and dynamic world people are seeking roles, working environments and leaders that allow them to ‘show up as the themselves’.
It’s always fantastic to see our attendees deep in discussion, and very interesting to hear the variety of opinions and experiences everybody brings to the table.
“Thank you so much for hosting the Breakfast Forum – it was a great morning and the cakes were delicious!”
“Thank you for inviting me. I felt energised afterwards and really enjoyed the morning!”
Key Takeaways from ‘The Power of Authentic Leadership’ session
Donna’s Authenticity in the Workplace Study suggested that 72% of people feel they are truly authentic at work, but not necessarily at first! 60% felt authentic after three months, 22% after nine months, 9% between 10 and 12 months and 9% believe it takes more than a year to reveal their truly authentic self at work.
There are, as always, contrasting opinions when it comes to whether or not being authentic is a benefit in a professional environment. 64% of people asked felt that being their true selves would make their working environment worse, but those who believed they were authentic at work said that it improved their workplace experience, increased performance and helped form better relationships with clients and coworkers alike due to increased understanding and higher levels of trust.
Questions to ask yourself
- What are authentic leadership characteristics?
- What are the barriers to us being our authentic selves as leaders?
- What needs to change in order to make it easier for us to lead as our true selves?
- How would creating a culture of authenticity positively impact:
a) our people?
b) our businesses as a whole? - What may be our concerns about creating a culture of authenticity, and how can these be addressed?
- How can we create environments where our people feel able to thrive as their true selves?
Supporting Macmillan
We’re very proud to partner with Macmillan Cancer Support, and we try to incorporate each of our events with some aspect of Macmillan, and our Breakfast Forum fell on the perfect date for a Macmillan Coffee Morning. With the support of those attending, we raised £51 for Macmillan while enjoying some cake, hot coffee and even hotter topics of conversation!
Keep an eye out for our next Breakfast Forum!
Breakfast Forums are a regular occurrence in the HR Heads world. To get involved with our exciting plans this year – please visit our HR Heads 2018 Events page. Connect with us on LinkedIn and follow our twitter, instagram and facebook pages for the latest HR Heads news, thought leadership pieces and event invitations.
