Learn how to cultivate your leadership presence by developing the foundational qualities of executive presence. Powerful leaders radiate gravitas, authority, and the power of expression—both in person and in virtual communication. By exuding these three pillars of executive presence, you’ll cultivate a strong executive presence that senior leadership will notice.
Gravitas
Leaders with gravitas are confident, commanding, and charismatic. These qualities define how they show up in every situation. They radiate self-assurance whether they’re in front of a group of peers or a mixed team of senior leaders and colleagues.
- To demonstrate confidence, share your opinions with conviction in meetings. Be aware of your body language, sitting up straight, making eye contact, and projecting your voice. Don’t shy away from debates; instead, welcome the chance to explore the merits of an idea.
- To become more commanding, confront challenges without hesitation. Step up when strong leadership is needed, even if you’re not the official group or project leader. Convey to the group that you believe you can surmount any challenges together. And when you give instructions, expect others to listen.
- To exude charisma, speak in an engaging manner. Vary your tone and share compelling stories. Make people feel appreciated and recognized, too. Acting as a mentor to others and reaching out to build a rapport with all those around you will greatly enhance your charisma.
Importantly, being charismatic doesn’t mean being the loudest person in the room. Introverted leaders can be highly charismatic too. Draw upon what makes your personality unique rather than trying to fit a preconceived notion of what charisma looks like.
Cultivating these key strengths will help you radiate gravitas and leadership presence as you go about your daily interactions.
Authority
Developing an aura of authority means being decisive, bold, and influential. These qualities define how leaders with executive presence act in their daily work, including situations that demand strong leadership.
- To be decisive, practice trusting your own judgment on the smaller decisions, and then the bigger ones. When you make a decision, stand by it unless it becomes clear that you need to correct course. Defend your stance by stating the reasons for your decision and the benefits it will bring.
- To act boldly, don’t hold back from voicing controversial ideas. Push yourself to bring them to group meetings. Practice speaking off the cuff at times when you have a half-baked idea that the group could flesh out more. Take smart risks that could greatly benefit your team and organization.
- To become influential, build relationships across the organization and gain buy-in for your ideas by speaking to people’s concerns. Motivate your team with your vision for change, inspiring them to do their best. And build your credibility by supporting your ideas with strong research.
You’ll become known as a leader who acts with authority as you master these core competencies, allowing you to drive change and get results.
Expression
Harnessing the power of expression means being vocal, insightful, and clear. The best leaders have mastered the art of effective communication through these qualities.
- To become more vocal, challenge yourself to speak up a certain number of times in each meeting. Prepare your thoughts beforehand to make this feel more feasible, but push yourself to speak off the cuff as well when an idea arises in the moment. Then increase the number of times you speak up. You’ll cultivate more of a presence for yourself in meetings, becoming known as a key player on your team.
- To demonstrate insightfulness, spend time thinking strategically and cultivating your ideas. Devote time to learning continuously as well, keeping up on the latest research and analysis. You’ll show up as an insightful leader when you give yourself space to hash out new ideas.
- To be a clear communicator, work to present your ideas in a succinct and well-organized manner. Think of the “5 Ws” of journalism—the who, what, when, where, and why—and state them upfront when presenting an idea. If you’re prone to rambling, practice sharing an idea with a friend or colleague before delivering a presentation, looking for ways to tighten up your ideas or express them in easier-to-understand language.
As you develop your expressive abilities, you’ll make yourself understood and ensure others fully hear your great ideas.
Take an executive presence self-assessment to gauge your abilities in each executive presence competency. Reflect on executive presence discussion questions as well. By honing your abilities in each of these three domains, you’ll demonstrate a powerful leadership presence in every situation. In all your interactions and meetings, people will perceive you as a capable leader who can steer the group through any challenge.
Cultivate all nine executive presence competencies with the guidance of an experienced executive presence coach. Contact Joel to launch an executive coaching program or 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.
