Enhancing Your Executive Presence

There is a lack of clear guidance on developing an executive presence. We’re going to fix that today.

Executive presence is a learnable skill rather than an innate quality with which some people are born. No, it’s not about being a stiff person in a suit. It’s about developing your best internal qualities. It’s about:

• Increased confidence and credibility in the workplace, leading to better professional relationships and more opportunities for advancement.

• Enhanced communication skills, including the ability to influence and persuade others effectively.

• Improved ability to handle challenging situations and difficult conversations with grace and professionalism.

• Greater self-awareness and emotional intelligence lead to better leadership and decision-making skills.

• Increased job satisfaction and fulfillment make individuals feel more empowered and engaged in their work.

• Improved ability to build and lead high-performing teams, resulting in better business outcomes.

Unfortunately, many people never pursue these internal qualities. They focus on external qualities which don’t have much depth. Without inner qualities, executive presence can be inauthentic or disingenuous.

Executive presence is not something you either have or don't have, rather, it’s a skill you develop.

Here are a few other reasons people struggle with developing their executive presence:

• People may perceive it as inauthentic or disingenuous if it is not a natural part of your personality.

• Developing executive presence may require stepping out of your comfort zone and taking risks.

• There is a lack of clear guidance on developing an executive presence.

• People may perceive it as inauthentic or disingenuous if it is not a natural part of your personality.

• Maintaining an executive presence in high-pressure situations or when dealing with difficult people may be difficult.

• It’s something only top-level executives need to have rather than a skill that can benefit anyone in their career.

You can overcome these concerns by being who you are and developing your best internal qualities.

Here's how step by step:

Step 1: Understand What Executive Presence Is

Getting clarity will help you grow faster.

Executive presence is about authority. It’s how people perceive you based on how you perceive yourself. Are you feeling confident? Then people around you will feel your confidence and follow your lead.

There’s more to executive presence than confidence. It’s a blend of traits, including:

• Self-confidence

• Clear communication

• Influential leadership

• Using emotions strategically

• Self-respecting appearance

These traits create executive presence. But you don’t have to act like everyone else. You can still be you.

Step 2: Self-Assessment

Now it’s time to see where you’re at compared to where you want to be.

Take a look at your strengths and weaknesses. Where do you need to double down, and where do you need to improve? As a starting point, here are some questions to ask yourself:

• How confident are you in different settings? (Rate 1-5)

• How clearly do you communicate? Speaking? Writing? Body language? (Rate 1-5)

• How influential are you as a leader? (Rate 1-5)

• How well do you control your emotions? (Rate 1-5)

• How does your appearance match who you want to be? (Rate 1-5)

Additionally, you can gather feedback from peers, supervisors, or mentors. They’ll be able to tell you things you are blind to.

Step 3: Enhance Your Communication Skills

Whether you are a seasoned executive or starting your career, everyone needs to improve their communication skills.

Speaking skills. Writing skills. Body language skills. These are the skill sets you must become better at. Whether you realize it or not, people use these skills daily. How influential people are comes down to these skills.

• If you’re not great at speaking 1:1, you need more practice speaking 1:1.

• If you’re not great at speaking to groups, you need more practice speaking to groups.

• If you’re not great at writing emails, you need more practice writing emails.

• If you’re not great at holding confident body language, you need more practice holding confident body language.

The action items you need to do are easy to identify. It’s constantly working to improve them. That’s the fun part.

Step 4: Develop Leadership Skills

Leadership skills are necessary in all areas of life.

First and foremost is leading yourself. If you cannot get yourself to do things, you surely won’t gain the respect of others. Once others respect you, then you can start on your journey of leading others.

If you lead others, it’s your job to help them grow. You do this by empowering them to become better than they ever thought they could.

Both you and your team need to develop leadership skills to be effective. To start, focus on the following:

• Communication

• Decision making & problem-solving

• Building high-performing teams

• Managing conflict

Step 5: Cultivate a Confident Appearance

Your appearance matters.

You don’t need to wear a suit every day.

You don’t need to dress in a way that makes you uncomfortable.

You do need to create an appearance that makes you confident. How you feel on the inside reflects how you appear on the outside.

If you always wear pajamas, you’re communicating how you feel on the inside.

Instead:

• Find clothes that you like, that fit well, and make you feel confident

• Practice good grooming habits

These 5 steps are great starting points for developing executive presence. These skills are useful in all areas of your life - work, family, friends, health, etc.

While the term ‘executive’ might create an image of work, it’s about bringing out your best qualities.

Whenever you are ready, here's how I can help you:

1. Coaching - I will help you implement the exact same proven system I use to grow my career and businesses and perform at an elite level. Limited availability.  APPLY.

2. Advising - I advise tech leaders and business owners to accelerate their team’s performance. SUBMIT AN INQUIRY.