This deck, from Haas' Women in Leadership Conference 2014, outlines authenticity in the corporate world and provides tips, tricks and lessons learned along the way for being successful in management and leadership roles while remaining true to yourself and your goals.

1. The Price of Authenticity
Risks, Rewards & Lessons Learned
Lauren Cooney
Sr. Director, Software Strategy
Chief Technology & Architecture Office, Cisco Systems
lauren.cooney@cisco.com | Twitter: @lcooney
March 15, 2014
Haas Women in Leadership Conference 2014
http://www.wilconference.org/

2. 2© 2013-2014 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“To be yourself in a world that
is constantly trying to make
you something else is the
greatest accomplishment.”

3. 3© 2013-2014 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
What It Means to Me & How I Continue to Learn
Credits: @gapingvoid; Someecards, the internet 

4. 4© 2013-2014 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
10 Lessons I’ve Learned
(The Hard Way)
 Remain True to Yourself, Your Values & Your
Morals. Fight for What You’re Worth
(Financially too).
 Politics are a Part of Business and You Will
Have to Play Them. Stand Up for What You
See as Right & Listen to Your Gut.
 Seek Respect over Attention. Know when To
Speak Up & Know When to Shut Up
(Silence can also be quite powerful)…
 Break the Rules: Don’t Be Patient. Be All In
or Get Out. No Halfway.
 Make Mistakes. Own Them. Apologize and
Learn.
 You’re Not Going to Like Everyone.
Everyone isn’t Going to Like You. That’s
Okay. Be Kind & Respect Differences.
You May Learn Something.
 But Put Yourself In Others’ Shoes Before
You Judge… and Before you Speak.
 “Don’t Put Up with Assholes” & Don’t Deal
with Bullshit. Don’t Be Afraid to Call
People on it, including Yourself.
 Stay Grounded. Everyone is a Person.
 Inspire. Teach. Learn. Push Your
Boundaries. Have Fun. Work is Part of
Your Life. Make it Worth its While…

5. THANK YOU!
www.twitter.com/lcooney
laurencooney@gmail.com
@gapingvoid
This Sits on My Desk at Work