In a panel discussion Wednesday at Fortune‘s Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington, D.C., Ms. Everson and other top executives discussed the importance of transparency and authenticity in leadership.
Ms. Everson outlined her personal leadership philosophy: “Be a very frequent communicator, be transparent and be vulnerable.”
She said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s emphasis on transparency taught her to be vulnerable, even personal, with her employees. Posting her performance review has transformed her relationship with her team. “People get behind you in a way that’s really extraordinary,” she said during the panel.
Bonnie Gwin, vice chairman and managing partner at executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles, said authenticity is the key to inspiring loyalty among team members. She said the most important thing is be yourself, even if that sounds cliché. However, this is not to be confused with inflexibility; strong leaders adapt to their environments.
The panelists discussed how numerous factors influence the way successful executives lead, such as the increasing presence of millennials in the workforce and the way social media and the Internet captures every move leaders make, according to Fortune.
Carolyn Tastad, North America group president at Proctor & Gamble, said organizations are becoming flatter and more transparent, even at the executive level. “Now, you’ll walk into a meeting where it’s unclear who’s the leader in the room,” she said during the panel, according to Fortune.
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