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What is Executive Presence?
Executive presence is hard to define. It’s filled with nuance. It’s judged less on logic than on emotion. But even if executive presence is a slippery concept, it’s real. So real that successful careers are built on it.
Have you ever felt stung, passed over for an opportunity? Did you think to yourself, but I’m more qualified than they are.
Perhaps you rationalised that it’s because your colleague is such a smooth talker, but likely they were chosen because of their executive presence.
Executive presence is the path to opportunity … especially plum opportunities that require others seeing you as confident, poised, and genuine.
The good news is that you can develop your executive presence. You just need to know what it is, and how to cultivate it.
We’ve all worked with that person. We can’t quite put our finger on what they have that pulls us in, but it’s there. They have a presence—a certain gravitas. They have a dignified aura about them. Their confidence is inspiring and they can easily influence others to their way of thinking.
We’ve also all worked with this other person. The person who is highly skilled, with deep expertise … but can’t persuade their colleagues of their solution or vision.
Professionals who can’t sell their ideas or communicate their passion have little chance of success. Executive presence is directly connected to the skill of motivating and inspiring others.
At its core, executive presence means the ability to be present, comfortable, and confident in your own skin.
It’s by believing in yourself and being at ease in workplace interactions that others see your executive presence (or not). Others are looking for the image you project and watching for your level of confidence, gravitas and genuineness.
There is not much leniency either, because we expect this level of professionalism even when a leader is under pressure.
Margarita Quihuis
ESG Advisor, ED: Peace Innovation Institute, The Hague Peace Innovation Lab Stanford
Executive Presence: Are You Born With it? Can it Be Learned?
A few lucky people are naturals and exude great executive presence effortlessly, but most of us have to work at it. Executive presence is a skill. It’s always a work in progress.
While your career’s trajectory and responsibility grows, your need for a larger toolkit of skills grows too. Throughout your career you’ll have lots of opportunities for developing executive presence. It takes asking for feedback in a way that you will receive constructive recommendations. This is a skill in itself. Executive presence also means letting your defenses down and truly listening to what you are being told.
Leadership presence and executive presence are one and the same. “Good” leadership presence that is. To be a successful leader you need executive presence. They go hand in hand.
Related Reading: Executive Presence for Women
5 Essential Qualities of Leaders with Executive Presence
1. Powerful Listening Skills
Skilled senior leaders have the ability to listen and ‘read the room’. Clients often tell me how isolated and out of touch they feel. It’s a serious problem that executives have to manage to be successful.
I work with a tech firm that I hold in high regard because of their nimbleness. Their listening skills and executive presence are of a high calibre. When the pandemic broke, in light speed they increased their team members’ access to extended medical including mental health services. They authorized ergonomic work from home desk situations. The executive team opened up their calendars for check-ins. All done within a few days.
When a leader is attuned to others it opens doors to communication, which is the essence of gravitas, however this is a challenge if you’re isolated. It takes acute listening, awareness and a commitment to be connected to your teams.
2. Empathic Perspective
I was once invited to a board of trade event where a newly appointed CEO spoke at. He delivered the standard speech about how pleased he was to take on the new role and what his focus for the future was. He praised the top-notch staff he had inherited and said he looked forward to working with them. I learned that while he was speaking, a close friend and colleague (who had been told that her and her colleague’s jobs were secure) had been let go, along with 50% of her staff.
I will never forget or trust that man. His lack of emotional intelligence (EQ) and empathy decimated his credibility. His lack of understanding of perception and the alignment between what needs to be done and communicated lacked integrity.
It’s easy to deliver good news. Delivering bad news is much harder. It’s a real test of one’s leadership capabilities. We envision the worst about how the news will land. Bad news can be difficult to hear, but even more difficult is hearing the bad news third-hand from someone else. Or getting a watered down, overly optimistic version. The new CEO would have been better served to share that with careful consideration changes would take place for the success of the organisation.
Delivering bad news clearly and concisely while putting yourself in the receiver’s shoes actually builds trust. It doesn’t break trust, as long as the explanation is truthful and the reasoning makes sense.
3. Aligned Body Language
Feeling comfortable and standing tall with your chest fully expanded communicates confidence and composure.
Give this quick exercise a try to feel the difference between feeling confident and not.
Stand with your shoulders hunched looking down at your phone. Now tuck the phone away in your pocket, stand tall and take a few deep breaths. Notice the difference in how you feel between the two stances?
When you stand holding yourself tall, with your chest opened wide, others will perceive you as having a strong leadership presence. And it will leave you feeling that you do, too.
4. Strong Vocal Resonance
A small, soft voice doesn’t give people confidence in what you have to say. A well modulated voice which projects is an attribute of executive presence.
Did you know that highly trained singers and actors can project their voices with such nuance that they can land a whisper at the back of a room? They can! Your voice is a powerful instrument that inspires confidence in your words.
Presentation skills matter. Paying attention to and learning how to use the power of your voice is the key to relaying executive presence.
If you’re feeling unheard or misunderstood, I can help.
5. Integrity: The Core Trait of Great Executive Presence
Executive presence is an integral attribute that requires depth and fortitude as well as the ability to follow through with your promises.
Remember the senior leader I spoke about that didn’t deliver the bad news at a board of trade event? He lacked integrity. He was hired to clean house and increase profits, which is fair enough, however this work can be done with graciousness and integrity. Once he had accomplished his mission he disappeared. He started on bad footing and couldn’t be trusted, which are not qualities of a respected leader.
Leaders with executive presence connect to the root of their values and beliefs. Their words and actions are believed and they are trusted. Their teams stand behind them and support their vision and success.
Who Needs Executive Presence?
Both introverts and extroverts can communicate executive presence. It’s a skill to be built over time.
In her book on executive presence, Dr Amy Cuddy defines presence and how to build the skills to achieve it. The definition and ‘how to’ of presence similarly mirrors executive presence.
Executive presence is not just for junior executives looking to enhance their chances of reaching the top-tier executive leadership level. Everyone who wants to be in rewarding relationships will find value in spending time polishing their executive presence skills.
Curious about mastering your communication skills to build your executive presence? Reach out to set up a quick call with me to learn about working together to position you as a leader.
