How to Develop Executive Presence
Leadership or Executive Presence has become a new buzz phrase in business. When organizations are looking at leadership talent pipelines, it has almost become a perquisite for leaders to promote beyond a manager or director level role. But what is leadership presence? You can find many variations of a definition online, but essentially it is having the ability to take command of a room simply by the way you carry yourself, how you speak, how you listen, how you treat others and how you make others feel. The interesting thing is, you are not the one who can grade your level of leadership presence, it is defined by others and their perception of you.
It is one of those skills that is probably easier to spot when it is missing than when it is present, but to better help identify what it is, consider this, who is a leader you’ve had the opportunity to work with who could energize a room? They were powerful and commanding, yet compassionate and down to earth? For me, it was a Regional Vice President of a physician group. I’ll refer to him as Mr. J. He was one of those leaders who, when he spoke, people listened. And not because they feared ignoring him, but because they wanted to hear what he had to say. He was the kind of leader most high performers were excited to learn when he was coming to town, and he was sure to leave those who had the opportunity to sit in a room with him feeling as though all things were possible.
The truth is, prior to the last 5 or so years, we rarely discussed leadership presence and for those progressive organizations that recognized the importance of it, they were incredibly limited if they wanted to find an expert to partner with their high performing directors who needed coaching in this realm. There is certainly much more information available today, but the skill is still one that high performing leaders need support developing. So how do you develop it?
The first step is clearly understanding what it is. Once you are crystal clear about what it is, the development of the skill can happen through several experiences. First, I recommend partnering up with an executive who has a strong leadership presence. Share with them you want to develop your skills and would like mentoring to improve.
Next, get an accountability partner or three. Find 2-3 trusted sources, tell them what you want to accomplish and ask them for feedback each time you are in a position that you have the chance to project leadership presence. Make sure your allies are someone you truly trust so you have confidence you can hear their feedback based on the intent of their message and not take it personally.
Third, seek out opportunities to be center stage so you can practice. This may be unsettling to you at first, after all, you’ll likely be putting yourself in uncomfortable situations, but do it anyway. It is through practice and the feedback from trusted colleagues that you will improve.
If public speaking is painful for you, it may be difficult for you to intentionally seek out public speaking, but keep in mind, all successful executives must be comfortable speaking to groups. Whether it’s community groups, board groups, groups of leaders and employees, if you want to be in a C-Suite role, you must get comfortable with the uncomfortable to get better at it. You may also consider a Toastmasters program or seek out some additional resources, such as Amy Cuddy’s Ted Talk on Power Poses. It may seem silly at first, but it works…I know because I’ve done it.
Finally, get a coach. Having a leadership coach certainly comes with an expense, but the ROI is invaluable. When working with an expert coach, you will find new ways of breaking through barriers. When you engage with a coaching practice like Ignite Leadership, you will have the opportunity to complete several validated assessments, you’ll have a trust partner to complete 360 feedback interviews and you will get support to help you develop this crucial skill.
