066 Authentic Leadership, DISC Profiles and Being Unapologetically You with Renee Walker

What happens when you stop trying to lead like everyone else and start leading as yourself?

In this episode of Information Matters with AI, Jacqueline Stockwell sits down with leadership and communication expert Renee Walker to explore authenticity, self-awareness, DISC personality profiles, and why understanding yourself is one of the most important leadership skills you can develop. During the conversation, they discuss authenticity, being yourself, communication styles and DISC profiles. 

From understanding how different personality styles influence workplace relationships to building confidence in your own leadership approach, this episode is packed with practical insights for leaders at every level.

In This Episode We Discuss

• Authentic leadership and why it matters
• Understanding DISC personality styles
• Communicating effectively with different personalities
• Building confidence through self-awareness
• Creating stronger workplace relationships
• Leading without trying to be somebody else
• The importance of trust and authenticity in leadership

Key Takeaways

✅ Great leaders understand themselves first

✅ Authenticity creates trust and credibility

✅ Different communication styles require different approaches

✅ Self-awareness improves leadership effectiveness

✅ Understanding others helps build stronger teams

✅ Leadership is about being the best version of yourself, not copying someone else

About Renee Walker

Renee Walker is passionate about helping individuals and organisations improve communication, strengthen leadership capability and better understand behavioural styles through tools such as DISC. Her practical and engaging approach helps leaders create stronger relationships, improve collaboration and increase workplace performance.

Resources Mentioned

• DISC Personality Profiles
• Leadership Through Data EMPOWER Programme
• Information Matters with AI Podcast
• Leadership Through Data Training and Consultancy Programmes

Connect with Renee Walker

Add Renee's preferred website and LinkedIn profile links here before publishing.

Connect with Jacqueline Stockwell

🌐 Website: https://leadershipthroughdata.com

📚 Book: Blooming Good Information Management

🎓 EMPOWER AI Readiness Accelerator

🎙️ Podcast: Information Matters with AI

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacquelinestockwell/

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Because great AI starts with great information, and great leadership starts with knowing yourself. 🚀

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hello and welcome to today's show. I'm so excited to have Renee Walker as my guest today. She has over 20 years of experience as a top ch executive. She is the chief executive of her business, the Leadership Rev Revolution, and she helps executives set up, rethink how they live, lead and build workplaces where people truly thrive. What stands out to me most about Renee is how genuine and down-to-earth she is. When we first met in Christchurch at the DWC conference, we just absolutely hit it off with our authenticity, our bright colours, and our absolutely unmistakable humanity for all the things that we do. Today we're going to be talking about how companies can stay authentic and how you can balance being a high-powered leader with living a really full life outside work. Welcome to today's show, Renee.

SPEAKER_00 0:55

Thank you, and I'm so pleased to be here. As you said, I knew that we would hit it off when we first met. It's the colour, but it is the authenticity. And so thank you for that welcome. But hopefully, and we'll talk a bit about this throughout the interview. For me, I really don't care what your job title is, and I'm never defined by mine. It is all about how you make people feel. And you have made me feel like a friend from day one. So I'm really pleased to be here.

SPEAKER_01 1:19

And I think it's so important when you're building those relationships in the executive level and also as a leader that you can just connect with people on that level. Now, Renee, let's talk about being real versus being perfect. So people used to think that executive presence meant being quiet, strict, and perfect. However, you are so genuinely yourself. How do you define executive presence today? And why is being real so important for leaders?

SPEAKER_00 1:51

Yeah. So I use a term that I call strategic self-awareness or strategic authenticity. And I think that's been the greatest learning for me. I was all about you need to be authentic, you need to be you. And I think you do need to be those things, but you need to know which version of yourself to be in each environment. And for me, what I learnt was I was dialing myself down to fit in. But what I needed to know is what part of me to bring into every situation. So I think we've had a chat about this before. I do a lot of work in the rural sector and the rural sector, for example, I wouldn't turn up like this today, but I would still turn up as a version of myself in that environment. I think that's really important, just knowing more about your audience and knowing how to adjust yourself. And then that presence, that executive presence comes with that. Because if you're yourself and you understand yourself, you have the ability to be confident, to draw people in, to create a vision, to create energy. And I do think that you can't do those things, you can't be energetic without knowing who you are and being authentic to that.

SPEAKER_01 2:56

Yeah, great. And one of the conversations that we had was around the farm work that you've described. So you wouldn't go to the farm dressed in your amazing, colourful suit. And I love that we're both as colourful as each other because obviously you're adapting to your surroundings. However, you might wear beautiful coloured welly boots or you call them um something else in New Zealand, don't you? Namescapally now gum boots.

SPEAKER_00 3:21

And I think that's not so people also mistake dressing well or being bright and being colourful as seeking attention, or they don't understand the true meaning behind some of those things. So you're right, if I went to a farm, I probably would wear flowery gum boots. We were in the office the other day with one of my clients and it was annual sneaker day, and so they had you dress up your sneakers thing. So I went in with flowers all over my sneakers, and it's not because I want people to say, look at your sneakers, it's about culture, and it's about again bringing that energy and bringing some excitement to whichever environment you're in.

SPEAKER_01 3:59

Yeah, so it's and it's really, really important for you to assess your environment as well at that at that level, isn't it? And that's where you do the adaption. Now, when we've met, we also head off around some of the things that we enjoy talking about, which is the disc framework. I use the colour profile, you use something different. Do you want to explain to listeners what it is and why it's so important in leadership and adapting and links to that adaptation of your leadership presence?

SPEAKER_00 4:29

Yeah, absolutely. So I use a tool called Extended Disc. And what Extended Disc does is it looks at all the different behavioural types and styles, and then we've got four main dominant styles, which are direct, influence, steadiness, and conscientiousness. And no one is 100% of any one type. We're all a makeup of at least two, but often three. And what that allows us to do, particularly with disc, is we see your natural style, and when then we see your perceived need to adjust. And usually, if there's any kind of disconnect in a team, I can look at that and go, okay, well, we've got too many people having to adjust their natural style. So that's causing them to lose energy and focus, and probably means that there's something going on for them that we need to kind of have a look at. Why I like Extended Disc is it talks a lot about how so it helps you to understand yourself and how you respond to certain situations, but then how to flex your style to be more effective with people of other styles. And so it's a very simple tool where, you know, understanding that someone who is a high D, for example, is not going to want a whole lot of flowery language in an email. They're just going to want you to get to the point. Whereas I'm a high I, so we're all about having a party and bringing people along with us and, you know, making sure everyone's happy. And so if I get an email that says, Renee, I'll see you at nine o'clock tomorrow morning, regards Carl. That's how I read it. Whereas Carl's probably just a high D and he's just trying to get on with his work. And so for me to understand high Ds and he to him to understand high I's, then we can just tailor our approach to each other and work a lot more effectively together. Yeah, and it's brilliant.

SPEAKER_01 6:08

And I work on the colour profile in the links to that. So yellow is influence, and I'm very high high yellow. And then you've got green, which is the steadiness, you've got blue, which is the analytical process one, and then you've got red, which is that dominance or as you say, direct. And I think they're really, really important for you yourself to understand what colour profiles you are, because that allows you to flex and adapt in leadership situations, but also for you to have an understanding of the key stakeholders or the end users or the leadership team that you actually work with, so you can get that buy buy-in. And I would highly recommend a book called Surrounded by Idiots, it's on Amazon, it's absolutely insanely brilliant, and you can also do the personality tests online to be able to see where you sit within that profile, and it just gives you that self-awareness. Now, you often talk about leaders who change or hide their true selves to fit into corporate rooms. Now, can you explain to listeners what does that actually look like and how does it hurt both the leader and the company if you're not your true self?

SPEAKER_00 7:15

I think why people do it is important to understand as well. So when I look at someone who changes who they are to fit in into an environment, the first thing I think is they're not confident enough in themselves. And again, I have studied leadership for years, I've worked in leadership roles, and I feel lucky that I've got the benefit of all the experience that I've had. And so I would maybe have done things differently throughout my career. I think one thing for me is I've always stayed very true to who I am. I'm very values-driven. I have my line between what I will and won't allow. And that has probably led to some rash decisions sometimes, but they're decisions that I can stand behind because they're values-driven. Where I see people fitting in or losing themselves is I think when they are career climbing, because they don't have the confidence yet to call out behaviors that maybe don't align with their values. And you do have to have some security and/or not need security. So again, when we come back to behavioural styles and profiles and things, my profile, I have no need for security and tradition and those things. I back myself that, you know, if something changes in my life, I can find another role or I can I can do something different. I understand that a lot of people, so your high C's, for example, need security. So they're not going to be always able to feel secure rocking the boat. And I think that's when you get very there's a risk for organizations because if no one rocks the boat, if no one asks the question, if they all just try and fit in, then you you lose the opportunity to do things differently, to challenge, to make sure you're creating an inclusive culture. You know, if they have to belong, what's the Brene Brown saying that I love? If I get to be me, if I have to be like you, I belong. If I get to be me. No, if I have to be like you, I fit in. If I get to be me, I belong. And so I think that's why it's so important that people are able to be themselves.

SPEAKER_01 9:19

Yeah. And I love her books, uh Dare to Lead. Wonderful, so I'd highly recommend that. And I think it's really important, and and certainly just listening to what you were saying from my leadership journey, I've definitely found more confidence and more enthusiasm and being more comfortable in my own authentic self when I've actually, you know, understood what I have and my values and my morals and my ethics and what I stand for as well. And I've really seen once I've established those, everything else follows after that. Now you've been dealing with a lot of things through organizations through hard times, you've led large teams through major crises and huge business changes. How can a leader show strength and give that resilience without putting on that sort of fake corporate mask?

SPEAKER_00 10:06

I think to me, everything comes back to forming rapport before you need it. So you can only be good in a crisis if people trust you. They only trust you if they know you. So for me, whenever I've got into any organization, any situation, the first thing that I'm doing is building relationships. And I'm building relationships through human connection, not through proving how technically intelligent I am. I think that's another big shift in the executive leadership space. It used to be all about depth and technical expertise. And actually, what we need now is more of the human skills and more of the things that you and I are passionate about, human humanizing that workforce. So having the rapport there, having the trust and confidence of the people, but being very open. So one of the things that's probably got me in trouble a bit throughout my career is I will tell people too much rather than not enough. And I will trust them until they give me a reason not to. And to be honest, probably because I'm such a trusting person, even if they give me a reason not to, I still choose to trust them because I believe that, you know, the more you can bring people in, the more honest you can be. And I would be honest and say, you know, I don't have all of the answers, but I'm telling you as much as I know. And if you say that to someone and you already have the trust there, then you've got them on the journey with you. Talking about leading in times of crisis, obviously we had a massive earthquake here and I worked in insurance, and insurance wasn't a very well-liked industry for a number of reasons. But my view was always insurance should be there to protect you in your hour of need. So if that's what we're there to do, then how do we bring that human element to every interaction that we have? And I'm really proud that in an industry that wasn't well respected, I was. And if I think about why, it was because I stayed true to my values and I made sure that I saw the people in front of me and I understood their situation and understood what a good outcome looked like for them so I could try and help them achieve that good outcome.

SPEAKER_01 12:01

Let's talk about organizational authenticity and work life balance. So you've got some really amazing views that I'd love you to share with listeners. Tell me what your view on work-life balance is.

SPEAKER_00 12:14

I don't think it exists for some people at me, but I gave up chasing work-life balance many, many years ago. And now what I talk about is having work-life integration. And I also reframed many years ago, you know, I hate when people say, Oh, you're so busy. Busy to me sounds like your life is full of doing things that you're obligated to do. So I never say I'm busy, I say my life is full right now. Because if I choose to reframe in that way from I'm too busy or I'm so busy to my life is full right now, what that says to me is my life is full of things I've chosen to prioritize and things that are important to me and people who are are important to me. That I'm too busy says, yeah, you're doing things that you're obligated to do. With the work-life integration that I speak about, Christchurch is a small city where 400, maybe 450,000 people. I've always said I think it's an easy city to be successful in if you are good at what you do and you do what you say you're going to do. I volunteer for Cure Kids and for Rotary and for MS and Parkinson's. And so I don't see those things as I finish work at five and I'm then obligated to go and do those things. I see that as these are people that a lot of them who I've met through my professional life that I now get to see outside of work and do good things with. Like, yeah, I think with volunteering in particular, you get more. I get far, far more from the things I give up my time for than they get from me. The orchestra, we go into prisons, we go into schools, we go into hospitals, we work with people with dementia. That is so rewarding.

SPEAKER_01 13:52

I absolutely love that. And since you told me about it, I feel like my life is full instead of busy, and I can really feel that if you kind of say it out loud, you can feel that difference in how you're showing up and what you're doing with the rest of your days. And I think it's insanely wonderful. So I appreciate you sharing that with the listeners today. So some people worry that being caring and open means sort of dropping their high standards. How can leaders stay true to themselves while still driving great business results?

SPEAKER_00 14:26

I think bring it back to that rapport, confidence, trust, respect. I talk about being a kind leader, not a nice leader. And so, kind to me, the difference between being a kind leader and a nice leader is as a kind leader, I'm honest, I'm upfront, I manage performance. I remember going into one organization and having conversations with people who were on large salaries that were inflated because of the earthquake, and their performance was nowhere near the level that they were being remunerated for. And I remember having a conversation with someone about that and saying, look, I would be doing you a disservice as a leader if I was to allow you to finish this job and you thought you were going to walk into a job at the same level and the same rate of pay somewhere else, because you don't have the skills that you need to be operating at that level. I'm not saying you can't build them and I will help you to build them, but I don't want you to go and think that this this is where you're operating. And he came back, he was quite uh taken aback, but I do it in a kind way. I'm not mean, I'm not saying you're useless, off you go. He came back the next day and he said, Do you know that's the first honest conversation anyone's had with me? And I said to him, Mod, that's what you should expect from me. You should expect honesty, but you will you will receive it in a respectful way. And I'm doing it if you always come back to what is your intent. My intent in life is to have a positive impact on others. So if I can bring it back to that intent and know that that is the purpose of the conversation, then it makes it a lot easier to have, but it also makes it a lot more beneficial and impactful for the other person as well.

SPEAKER_01 16:02

And I'm gonna recommend another book, Radical Candor. Now, you believe that leadership is about action and impact, not job titles, as you explained right at the start. What is one simple thing a leader, a listener, can start doing today to connect them better with their team?

SPEAKER_00 16:18

See them. And actually, when I say see them, see them for who they are, make sure they know they're valued, ask them something about them, remember that thing, and then bring it back into conversation. You know, one of the simple tools I use to give feedback is if it wasn't for you then, dot dot dot. So it makes it specific, it makes it real, and it makes that person feel feel seen and valued. I've just finished facilitating a leadership program for the rural sector, and we talked about that. If it wasn't for you then, there were 24 people on that cohort, and the night before the course finished, I wrote each of them a card and I picked one thing that had happened over the previous nine days and said, if it wasn't for you then, and whatever that thing was, and the number of people who came back to me to thank me for seeing them, but also we see things and we don't always recognise or acknowledge them. And I think that taking the the two minutes to recognise and acknowledge is so important and just means the world to the other person. Yeah, agreed. Absolutely fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 17:26

The changing the game. So, as the business owner of the leadership revolutionist, if you could get rid of one old corporate rule or bad habit forever, what would it be and why?

SPEAKER_00 17:38

Rules. You just said one corporate rule. I would get rid of rules. Because I think as soon as you have rules in place, people start to do what they think they should do rather than what is right. And so if you think about the number of organizations that you go into and they say, Oh, we can't do that because it says it says somewhere. There's all these unwritten rules in organizations. I think if we all went about something to say, what is it we're trying to achieve and how can we achieve that, forget about why we can't do things, but how can we do something? I think we'd move forward a lot faster and a lot more inclusively. Because again, when organizations have rules, some people know them and some people don't, and it just creates divide straight away. So it's utopia, but I think yeah, the more we can focus on what are we trying to do and how can we do it versus you know what do the rules tell us we can't do, yeah, to me would change workplaces exponentially. And also see, yeah, again, see the people in front of you. We often see people as a cost on balance sheets or to organizations. People are your biggest asset, and the organizations that truly live that, not just say that. So don't just have a poster on the wall saying people are our number one priority, our number one asset. Well, how are you showing them that they are? And honestly, I think it's as easy as saying hello and thank you and seeing them. Just see them and make them know, make them feel like they are the most important priority.

SPEAKER_01 19:08

Yeah, and I think it's really interesting you bring up that point because I think like sometimes rules can stifle innovation, which is kind of where you're you're coming from. But then I think you definitely need some rules within organizations around compliance, around AI and human resources. I would definitely advocate having rules when it comes to information management. Uh Renee, absolutely sensational. Where can listeners reach out to you if they want to know more, my lovely?

SPEAKER_00 19:35

All they have to do is remember my name. I try and make it easy for people. So my name is Renee Walker. My email address is renee at reneewalker.co.nz. My website is renewalker.co.nz. So if you remember my name and that I'm from New Zealand, you'll be able to find me.

SPEAKER_01 19:53

Oh, absolutely love you. Thank you so much for joining me on Information Matters with AI. It's been an absolute pleasure. And if everybody listening, if you've enjoyed today's conversation and you're thinking more and more, I'd love to hear your thoughts about what was your best takeaway from today. Connect with me on LinkedIn. Let me know your biggest takeaways. And don't forget to subscribe to Information Matters with AI for more conversations that help information leaders across the world. Until next time, remember be bold, be brave, and be beautiful.