Create an Executive Presence Development Plan

An executive presence development plan is essential for cultivating executive presence. This plan will structure your efforts, ensuring you’re focusing on your most critical areas for growth. Importantly, this plan will prepare you to excel not just in your current role, but in any future position as well.

How to create this development plan and begin improving your executive presence? Begin by targeting specific executive presence competencies that you’re most lacking. These are the areas that are currently undermining your executive presence. No matter how well you’re doing in certain other areas, they’re holding you back.

In coaching conversations, I call these “BUT” behaviors—their boss and other leaders may make comments like, “She is very eloquent when presenting ideas, BUT she never puts a stake in the ground and owns an idea.”

Here are 3 crucial steps to take in identifying areas for growth and crafting an executive presence development plan.

1. Take a self-evaluation

You can begin identifying these areas of greatest need by taking an executive presence self-evaluation. In my book Executive Presence: Step into Your Power, Convey Confidence and Lead with Conviction, I share a self-assessment you can take to determine your overall level of executive presence and critical areas for growth. In the book, I also share a self-evaluation for each of the 9 executive presence competencies, helping you reflect in a more in-depth way on qualities you believe you are lacking.

2. Get feedback from colleagues

Follow the steps outlined here to solicit valuable feedback. These steps will help create your executive presence development plan.

A. Identify people with a range of perspectives.
Ask a range of colleagues for feedback, including peers, senior leaders, and direct reports. Gaining feedback from people you work with directly is important, but people in other departments will have valuable input as well.

B. Approach the feedback conversation methodically.
Once you decide whom to ask for feedback, request a private one-on-one feedback conversation. Be aware that many people don’t understand the term “executive presence” and may fear they don’t have enough input in this regard. So, provide more context by saying something like this:

“I’m trying to understand how I show up in groups, presentations, and one-on-ones, and how this all contributes to my leadership presence. I have some specific questions for you along these lines, and I’d also love to hear your overall thoughts about my strengths and weaknesses.”

Prepare both general questions and those related to specific areas for growth. General questions like these may bring forth new insights:

• • “What do I most need to improve, in terms of how I lead a project?”
  • “When giving a presentation or leading a group meeting, how do I present myself? What should I do better?”
  • “How do I undermine my executive presence?”

Meanwhile, targeted questions like the following can help you dig deeper into growth areas you’ve already begun to identify:

• • “How clearly do I present my ideas? Do people understand what I’m saying immediately, or do they sometimes struggle to follow what I’m expressing?”
  • “When voicing a decision or position on an issue, how decisive am I?”
  • “How confident do I sound in meetings? Do any particular behaviors affect how much confidence I show up with?”

Then, take careful notes during each feedback conversation so you’ll remember the key points. Thank the other person for their feedback, even if it was tough to hear, and ask if you can schedule a follow-up conversation about a month out.

C. Document and track their feedback.
Create a feedback-tracking spreadsheet like the one shown below, creating a column for each person you’re speaking with. After each conversation, summarize the other person’s main points and any specific examples they gave you. Do the same after your follow-up meetings.

Try to hold several meetings with each person you gain feedback from. Space them out so you have enough time to make real progress between meetings (and for them to observe you in action). Try to schedule meetings for every few weeks or once a month. Look at themes and patterns that emerge in the feedback (for example, do leaders perceive you differently than direct reports do? This conveys how you show up in different contexts).

Feedback-Tracking Spreadsheet

3. Work with an executive presence coach

An experienced executive presence coach can help you understand how to work with the insights you’re gaining. An executive coach will walk you through action steps to hone each specific area for growth you’ve outlined in the executive presence development plan. You can also use my 3×3 Executive Presence Model as a framework, referring to my book Executive Presence for strategies to develop each executive presence competency. It shares concrete steps you can start taking today to cultivate each of the 9 executive presence qualities.

Through your executive presence development plan, you’ll work toward achieving your full potential as a leader. Continue getting ongoing feedback even after you’ve begun to excel in areas where you previously struggled. This continuous feedback keeps great leaders learning, growing, and performing at their best.

Enlist the help of a skilled executive presence coach to create a personalized development plan. Contact Joel today, and he will design an executive presence development plan that meets your individual needs. You can also read through his collection of articles on executive presence. You can bring him into your company to conduct an executive presence corporate training program. You can also purchase his book for your employees: Executive Presence: Step into Your Power, Convey Confidence and Lead with Conviction.