Building Your Executive Presence

The currency of leadership is influence. Influence drives power. There is one element that can turbocharge that influence. It’s to build and demonstrate the characteristics and behaviors of a leader with Executive Presence.

I was a junior manager when I first met my organization’s QA Director, Paulina Pascal (not her real name). I met her at a leadership workshop. When Paulina walked into the room, it seemed the volume of our voices dropped twenty decibels, and all faces turned to look at her – with smiles. Smiling, she confidently moved and connected from one person to the next.

She saw me, came over, and said, “I can’t remember meeting you before.” I don’t recall the rest of the conversation because I was star-struck. What I remembered was how she made me feel in the 15 seconds I had with her – like I was the most important person in the room. Paulina became my role model. She was my first experience with the power of the Executive Presence.

What is Executive Presence?

Executive Presence is the ability to exude confidence and connect with others to command respect and trust. These are qualities that exponentially increase your effectiveness.

Leaders with Executive Presence can walk into a room full of people and command attention because of their charisma, connection, and confidence.

Executive Presence can be referred to as Leadership Presence because it’s demonstrated at every level of an organization, not just the executives at the C-Suite or senior levels.

Importance of Executive Presence

Executive Presence is important to both your business and career success. Reasons to develop Executive Presence:

1. Increases your influence. Executive Presence encourages others to trust you.

2. Broadens your reach. The greater your circle of influence, the greater your impact.

3. Motivates and Inspires others. It causes others to have a level of trust in you that motivates and inspires them to reach beyond what they thought possible.

4. Establishes your leadership Potential. You demonstrate you are competent, poised, and capable of leading your business into the future.

Elements of Executive Presence

There is a subset of leadership skills that, if sharpened, will set you apart from the rest. These skills drive a leader’s Executive Presence.  

• Effective communication. This is the clear and concise articulation of your thoughts. Leaders with Executive Presence place a premium on communication, including active listening.

• Image. You are intentional about what you project. An image of control, confidence, and assertiveness.

• Emotional Intelligence. You are in touch with your emotions and that of others. You are present, can quickly read a room, and adapt to different circumstances.

• Body Language. You are deliberate in your body language. This includes non-verbal cues such as posture, eye contact, and facial expression.  

• People Focused. You are in the moment with genuine interest and engage others authentically and emotionally.

• Values based. You are a servant leader. Humble. You do the right things for the right reasons and never waiver from your values.

Developing Executive Presence

Everyone wants a high level of influence. However, it’s only achieved if you are willing and committed to put in the effort to develop that behavior.

1. Develop a vision of the image you want to project. Identify someone whom you admire as having an Executive Presence. Write down the characteristics that make them stand out.

• Questions to answer: How do they make you feel when in their presence? What qualities do they project? What makes you trust them?

2. Assess your Image and the changes you need to make. Evaluate your qualities against the list of your role model. Enroll a mentor or trusted advisor to give you unbiased input.

• Questions to answer: Where do you see gaps? What changes do you need to make? Which one or two changes would give you the greatest improvement?

3. Create a personal development plan. Attend training events or seminars. It helps to engage an executive coach on the topic. Enlist a sponsor with Executive Presence as a guide.

• Questions to answer: Am I focused on the critical one or two actions that can make a big impact? Am I receiving guidance that will lead to excellence? What behaviors do I need to drop?

4. Review the list of Executive Presence elements above and practice them. Executive Presence takes practice and experience.

• Questions to answer: How can I use my Executive Presence to serve my organization better? How can I influence others to reach beyond what they thought capable?

Few leaders cultivate a strong Executive Presence. For some, it comes naturally. For others, it takes focus and dedication.  Regardless of how developed, it will turbocharge your influence and impact.

Empowered Leader Reflection

How are you demonstrating the behaviors and characteristics of a leader with Executive Presence?

Would you join the conversation and comment below in the reply section?

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