Happy belated IWD – International Women’s Day! Last week, I had the privilege of leading two workshops with ambitious, impressive women.
We focused on confidence. Why confidence?
- Because if you don’t have the confidence to speak up, nothing else matters. It doesn’t matter if you’re a great listener, it doesn’t matter if you’re smart, it doesn’t matter if you’re productive.
- Because when you feel confident, you are perceived as more credible.
- Because confidence is a critical ingredient in developing executive presence.
Lately, I’ve noticed an uptick in requests for coaching on Executive Presence. Sometimes the request comes directly from an ambitious, mid-to-senior-level leader who’s being proactive about their leadership development. Other times, a high-potential leader is sent to me by their H.R. manager, who says something like,
Hmm. What exactly does this mean?
After years of reading and coaching folks on this topic, I have some strong opinions about executive presence. I also have a free resource for you to help you develop your executive presence! Read on for more:
- What is (and is not) “Executive Presence?
- Rethinking Executive Presence: Andrea’s suggestion for a new term
- The Leadership Presence Framework – and a free resource
1️⃣ What is (and is not) “Executive Presence?
Executive presence is NOT the same as:
- A TITLE. This is not about formal status. You don’t need to be in the C-suite to have executive presence. (Just like not everyone in the C-suite has executive presence.) More junior folks can exhibit this trait before they ascend the corporate ladder.
- EXPERTISE. This is not about technical skills, per se. What I often observe is that people who come to me for coaching often have technical expertise and they’re looking to brush up on their executive presence.
- CHARISMA. Charisma is more about energy and emotional impact. It’s often associated with extroversion. On the other hand, executive presence is about substance plus delivery, and you definitely do not need to be an extrovert to have executive presence.
The leaders that I coach tell me that executive presence all about gravitas. Gravitas as in feeling and being perceived as confident, but of course, not arrogant. It’s about imbuing credibility. It’s about your leadership status.
2️⃣ Rethinking Executive Presence
Some people are legitimately turned off when they’re told that they “need to develop executive presence.” Why? A few reasons:
- It often feels like vague, elusive, coded feedback.
- It can be viewed as a non-inclusive leadership style that is almost impossible to achieve for women and racialized people.
- Some see executive presence as a direct, formal, authoritarian, antiquated leadership style.
- The term “executive” may be relevant for business folks only. What about leaders in Medicine? Law? Politics?
Recently, I asked the LinkedIn community what they think of the term “executive presence.” (See the comments in the poll HERE.)
Here’s my recommendation for re-labelling the term. Let’s call it:
Leadership Presence
3️⃣ The Leadership Presence Framework
Here’s the good news:
Leadership Presence can be learned.
Recently, I created a Leadership Presence Framework, based on my reading of books and articles on executive presence, plus my observations from coaching hundreds of leaders and aspiring leaders.
The Leadership Presence Framework is a simple, yet powerful hierarchy. At the bottom of the hierarchy, we have foundational communication skills. When you improve your foundational communication skills, you’ll start to feel confident. Then, your confidence is noted by others. This when you start to establish credibility. Once you establish credibility, that’s when you can create impact. That is leadership presence!
I created a free resource to guide you through the process of developing Leadership Presence. Click HERE to download your FREE Leadership Presence Framework worksheet, including a checklist of specific skills to develop.
Two more opportunities for you to learn more about executive presence and leadership presence:
- Watch or listen to the most recent Talk About Talk podcast ep.207 “Rethinking Executive Presence” on Spotify, Apple, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.
- Attend my free live training: “5 Ways to Develop Executive Presence” on March 24th at noon ET.
That’s it for this week. Here’s to your Leadership Presence!
TALK soon,
Dr. Andrea Wojnicki
Executive Communication Coach
