A veil of silence fell as the clack of her footsteps reverberated on the polished wood floors. The air felt heavy with anticipation as she walked towards the stage at the school assembly. Although she rose just under five feet tall, Sister Eithne, exuded reverence and respect in her pressed navy habit. When she spoke, her voice filled the air with such conviction on the mission and values of the school my trepidation as a new student fell away.
When I think about executive presence Sister Eithne comes to mind. I can still see her clearly on that stage and remember how she made me feel, both welcomed and inspired.
Executive Presence is hard to define but you know it when you see it.
Executive presence is an amorphous word and best described as the way a person carries themselves, walks, talks, and ease with which they engage others. Those who carry it radiate quiet confidence and seem to belong to themselves anchored by their values. Their aura radiates an ethos that draws you in and their energy so magnetic it inspires you to action.
Sylvia Ann Hewlett, author of “Executive Presence” surveyed over 4,000 college-educated professionals and conducted several focus groups to discover what leaders look for to evaluate Executive Presence in an employee.
Executive Presence falls into three core themes:
- How you show up
How you command the room, how you show grace under fire and how you demonstrate courage and integrity. - How you communicate
Your choice of words, the tone, pitch and delivery of your voice, and your body language. - Appearance
Many of my coaching clients desire to enhance their executive presence. They recognize this is what gets them promoted, helps them become better leaders and inspires teams to execute their vision and goals. Executive presence can be taught and learned. There are tools a person can experiment with to create “presence” within themselves. Sometimes this is all very much innate, but understanding what tools exist and what steps to take will create a roadmap that with support leads to results.
Tips to enhance Executive Presence:
There is no one-size-fits-all approach. Start with gathering feedback from colleagues, bosses, mentors, clients or customers, coaches and any assessments to understand what is getting in the way of your executive presence. Be aware of the environment and culture you are in as to what is appropriate and figure out how this is authentic to you.
How you show up. Be clear on your values.
Your values are your way of being and your beliefs about what you hold most important. Your intentions, words and behaviors align with those beliefs and guide your everyday actions. Values are your compass and gives you steadfastness and strength to navigate choppy waters. Values provide the foundation for authenticity in a leader. When a leader’s actions and words are consistent with their values it fosters a reputation for reliability and integrity.
How you communicate matters.
It is not only the content of the message but the presence you bring to it. How you communicate and inspire different constituents (e.g. hospital leaders, medical group staff/leaders, corporate vs field staff) requires adaptability. Otherwise, you sound like a one note broken record.
The average human attention span is 8-seconds.
There is a wide spectrum of ways to communicate to raise your executive presence. Here are some tips that may resonate with you.
- State what you need to say clearly and concisely and don’t hide it with a question. Ditch qualifying language i.e. “I think,” “actually,” “maybe”, “you know”
- Don’t run away with your sentences and get lost in the details. Less is more. If you get stuck, pause before speaking and gather your thoughts.
- Actively listen and talk less.
- If you don’t understand the question, ask for clarification.
- Play with the tone and pitch of your voice.
- Silence is a powerful tool when used appropriately.
Our nonverbals shape how people think and feel about us.
Our human radars are fine tuned to spot instances where someone’s posture says one thing and behavior another; when out of alignment this is the fastest way to lose trust. Observe how you experience yourself and make subtle posture adjustments to align with your intentions, whether it’s guiding a conversation or influencing a behavior.
I can still hear my mother whispering in my ear to stand up straight, shoulders back and lift up my head. This tiny self-correction in my body language makes a difference when I find myself in a high-risk situation where I need to win confidence. I align my spine, lean in and snap into being present.
- Focus your attention on the matters at hand and avoid distractions. If you see someone checking their phone or emails on their commuter when they are in a meeting with you, notice how it minimizes their executive presence.
- To bring nonverbal cues into awareness, observe and emulate others whose body language communicates executive presence.
- Record yourself on video, watch it and ask others to watch and what it evokes.
- Get support from others and share with them the nonverbal cues you are working to change. Have them help bring these into your awareness. Often, we are not conscious of how we hold ourselves.
- Practice power poses and change your posture before giving or during presentations or meetings and notice the result.
Every bodily gesture speaks about how you hold yourself. It affects how your audience feels about you. The feelings you elicit are what lingers with your audience. Read the room, sense your audience and adapt your communication style accordingly.
Look the part.
Science tells us it takes less than three seconds for a person to make a snap judgment about you.
This may not be as important as how you communicate or carry yourself, but people are quick to judge. You want to ensure that your first impression inspires confidence. Be aware of the environment and culture you are in as to what is appropriate for the setting and figure out how this can be authentic to you.
Executive presence is multifaceted and integrates many qualities. We all have different layers of executive presence and are stronger in some areas and weaker in others. There are many ways to strengthen and enhance your executive presence if you are willing to explore and develop some practices.
Through some daunting experiences and with the help of mentors and coaches I have learned to improve my executive presence and command spaces. I appreciate all the lessons I have learned along the way from Sister Eithne. She wanted me to be big in the world, to inspire others and have presence and for that I am forever grateful.
If you are interested in enhancing your executive presence and learning more about my coaching services contact me.
