How to Have Executive Presence: A 3-Step Guide for Leaders

What qualities have you spent time developing up to this point in your career? You probably have an impressive range of skills and some substantial accomplishments under your belt. You’ve consistently demonstrated a strong performance, building up a track record of success. You’ve accumulated credentials that speak to your knowledge and competence. You have an incredible work ethic and prioritize good teamwork. And you reliably produce results. Others have affirmed that you possess these qualities. You know you’re good at what you do and have been perceived positively thus far. But those qualities alone can only take you so far. As I often say to my executive coaching clients, what’s gotten you this far in your career won’t bring you to the next level.

Why Executive Presence is Important to Career Success

This realization comes as a bit of a surprise to many leaders. They’ve worked hard to build up their skills, taking advantage of every corporate training provided by their company. But in many cases, they’ve never been offered an executive presence training. In fact, no one has even uttered that phrase to them. Their boss has never told them that executive presence will make or break their career success, or shared any guidance about what it entails. And that’s not because their boss doesn’t believe in them or want them to succeed. Rather, their boss may not even be able to articulate what executive presence actually means, much less help someone to develop it.

Or maybe your boss has told you that you need to have executive presence—but how can you get it? You’re left knowing that you’re lacking something you can’t quite define, and which your boss probably can’t define either.

Learn How To Have Executive Presence With These 3 Steps

Let’s walk through the basics of how to begin developing executive presence in an organized, systemic way. With the right tools, input, and guidance, you’ll set yourself up for success.

1. Begin with the right framework.

   Executive presence actually comprises a range of leadership qualities. To begin developing it, you need a roadmap that shows where to start and how to proceed. Choose an executive presence framework developed by a reputable source with expertise in executive presence specifically. Otherwise, it will be tough to learn where you fall short and how to organize your efforts.

   Clients use my 3×3 Executive Presence Model to guide their efforts. This model breaks executive presence down into 3 core domains, which each encompass 3 key qualities. After giving them a bird’s-eye view of what executive presence really means, it allows them to discover, through feedback and self-evaluations, where they need to focus on improving. They will ultimately learn how to have an executive presence.

2. Ask for feedback.
   

   Equipped with the right executive presence model, you now need the feedback from colleagues at work. There are several ways to go about getting it, and you might employ more than one strategy:

   – A self-assessment that you do on your own. A self-assessment exercise is a good jumping-off point, prompting self-reflection on your competencies. Plus, it will allow you to see where your own perceptions of yourself differ from those of others.

   – A 360 evaluation conducted by an executive presence coach. This 360 evaluation solicits feedback from a broad range of people throughout your organization. It will deliver powerful insights that present a well-rounded picture of your level of executive presence, how to have it and where you most need to grow.

   – Insights from an executive presence coach. A skilled executive presence coach can talk with you about how you show up in meetings and interactions, teasing out issues you may not be aware of. The coach can also help you interpret feedback your boss or coworkers have already given you. Further, the coach can observe how you conduct yourself in one-on-one sessions and share advice for improvement.

   – Input gained in one-on-one feedback conversations with colleagues. You can set up discussions with coworkers and senior leaders to learn about their perceptions of you as a leader. Approach this work methodically, asking targeted questions and keeping a spreadsheet of the feedback you’ve received. You can then follow up later to determine whether you’ve improved. Through this feedback, you’ll learn how to have executive presence by strengthening weaknesses as well as hidden strengths.

3. Develop an action plan.

   Of course, all these insights won’t do you much good without a great plan and solid tactics for developing executive presence. Work with an executive coach to craft a plan that will build your skills step by step. Be realistic yet ambitious, pushing yourself to continuously take smaller and then bigger steps to develop the executive presence qualities you are lacking. Set weekly goals for your progress.

These tools will demystify what executive presence actually is and equip you to become a stronger leader. You can also read my book, Executive Presence: Step into Your Power, Convey Confidence and Lead with Conviction , for more guidance along your journey. It will help you understand and leverage the 3×3 executive presence model to become a leader who exudes executive presence in every situation.

Ready to take the leap and become a leader with executive presence? Contact Joel to get started on an executive presence coaching program or corporate training program today. You can also purchase his book for your employees: Executive Presence: Step into Your Power, Convey Confidence and Lead with Conviction.