Leadership & Authenticity, 9 April 2026, COPE Galway

Thank you so much for your interest on our recent Breakfast Club on Leadership and Authenticity. A particular thanks to our wonderful Leaders Bridget Kelly, of the Irish Traveller Movement and Dearbháil Lawless of Aontas for a very honest and vulnerable conversation about their own journeys as authentic leaders. 

There were loads of nuggets in this chat but some of the key things we loved were: 

  —  It’s important to be authentic because hiding aspects of yourself and your own identity just signals to others like you that there is something to be ashamed of 

  —  Finding the balance between vulnerability and over-sharing is risky, but if someone is determined to take issue with you, they’ll do it anyway so you might as well be who you are 

  —  Recognise the difference between who you are and what you do: identify how you want, but when the time comes, know your stuff, that’s what people judge in the long run 

  —  Authentic leadership requires extreme self-awareness, you need to do the work to recognise your own strengths and weaknesses and to be comfortable admitting when things go wrong. 

Thank you so much to our hosts COPE Galway for providing such a wonderful space, as well as Cafe Link for the catering.