Building Trust Means Showing People Who You Are

Observations from Managing Partner Jen Prosek in the Leading in Volatile Times Newsletter.

As a female founder who started my business in my early 20s, I spent a lot of my younger days worrying about how much of myself to put out there. Be “all business,” like most of the corporate leaders I was courting? Or should I show more of my true personality?

It soon became apparent that I didn’t have a choice. “All business” Jen never came across right. It simply wasn’t authentic. I also quickly realized that being young, female and a little bit different made me stand out. People would ask me my business strategy and the “real Jen” would say “oh that’s easy – to bring the fabulous to finance.”

Some would cringe, but most of my colleagues and clients loved it. It was a great way to discuss my strategy, which was to bring the finance sector a front-footed, passionate, modern and creative approach to building and protecting brands.  Honestly, once I gained confidence in being myself and showing my personality, our business really started to take off.

As Axios pointed out in a recent and insightful article, in today’s world, it’s important for leaders to show people who they are. You simply can’t build trust without it. Nobody wants to work for – or do business with – someone who comes off as inauthentic or overly cautious about everything they do or say.

For some people, authentic communication just comes naturally. I can’t imagine Ray Dalio or Jaime Dimon being anything other than forthright about their beliefs, even if they weren’t CEOs. But for other leaders, it’s hard to know when to step into the spotlight and when to stand back. It is definitely a delicate balance because you want your business to stand for its bench of talent and culture, not just the CEO or founder.  But being a leader today, and gaining trust, requires you to show your stakeholders a bit about who you really are.

My advice is to share your values, culture and business belief system boldly and proudly.  Anyone who has ever worked for me (or regularly reads this newsletter) knows a few Jen-isms like “selling is giving to receive,” or “the two most powerful words in business are ‘just ask,'” or “great ideas find funding.”  They also know I boldly and proudly discuss our unique culture: “We are an army of entrepreneurs.”

I repeat these mantras, -isms, and cultural differentiators because they epitomize the things I want employees to think about and the ways I want clients to view our agency. I want to attract the right kind of talent and clients. I want to naturally align.

But these mantras would be ineffective if I didn’t show people how I use them in my life. I’m very open about the conversations I have with clients, prospects and industry peers – good and bad. I’ll even share how I use lessons I’ve learned in business with my daughter.

The Axios story is a must-read for any leadership team.  It’s a good reminder of the importance of managing a strong personal and company brand.

Follow Jen’s Leading in Volatile Times Newsletter on LinkedIn.