Your ‘professional personality’: are you conforming at work?

Being listed in Forbes’ “35 Women in Tech” is no small feat, and it speaks volumes about who Anna Cejudo is.

A three-time founder and now Co-CEO of Founderz , Anna has built her career by challenging expectations, not conforming to them.

In this conversation, she opens up about how shedding the pressure of who she should be has made her a stronger, more authentic leader.

Are you in ‘Corporate Camouflage’ at work?

“Covering” isn’t a term many have heard before, and yet it’s impacted 60% of US workers, a Deloitte study found.

It’s the act of downplaying parts of your identity to fit in at work. It sounds small - softening your style or shelving your quirks. But the cost is huge. How can anyone perform at their best when they’re wasting energy pretending to be someone they’re not?

When you suppress your personality, you don’t just lose your voice, you lose your edge. Creativity dulls. Connection with the work you do fades, along with the spark that makes you, you.

No surprise, then, that 54% of Deloitte ’s respondents said covering hurt their ability to do their jobs.

The antidote? Authenticity, especially in leadership. Research shows authentic leaders inspire confidence and boost motivation, encouraging innovative thinking.

So we need to fight back against ‘cover culture’ and ditch the corporate mask. Because the best work doesn’t come from blending in, it comes from standing out.

How AI helps leaders to be more authentic

David Tomas is the Co-Founder and Chief Empathy Officer at Cyberclick. He’s a businessperson and people person, which makes him the perfect person to advise on authentic leadership.

“Being yourself at work is the foundation of true leadership.

Over the years I’ve learnt that when you lead with empathy, you create an environment where people feel safe to do the same. At Cyberclick , our values are chosen collectively and lived daily, and that coherence only happens when we bring our whole selves to the table.

Today, AI is transforming the way we work. Far from dehumanizing us, it gives us the chance to focus on what makes us truly unique: creativity, empathy and vision. When machines take care of repetitive tasks, we recover time and energy to connect with others, to listen and to lead with authenticity.

Autonomy and authenticity are not “soft” concepts – they are what drive motivation and long-term wellbeing. Sometimes this also means saying “no” to what doesn’t fit with your values. Far from weakening performance, being yourself makes you more productive, engaged and fulfilled.

When people stop wearing a corporate mask, trust grows naturally – and with it, both happiness and results. And now, with AI accelerating what we do, we have a unique opportunity: to make work more human than ever."

⚡ How Xavier Virgili Grau handled unexplained multi-million euro discrepancies in Operations at Vueling Airlines .

Words by Emma Baigey , Lead Copywriter Factorial

Illustration by Ainhoa Valero Blanquer , Graphic Designer Factorial

Motion graphics by Enrique R. Dávila , Brand Design Lead Factorial