Some people confuse executive presence with charisma.
Executives know that it is so much more than that. The majority of the time it takes learning how to develop your executive presence.
It is also important to understand that having a strong executive presence is essential for your job and for your career. Having an executive presence requires practicing and training to enhance your skill set.
This guide is going to be your must-read to learn about exactly how you can improve your presence in your role as an executive.
What Is Executive Presence Exactly?
Business experts have determined that having an executive presence is a combination of personality traits as well as our behaviors. These create an image of a competent leader who is trustworthy.
The biggest factors in executive presence include gravitas, speech, and appearance.
Gravitas is how one acts around others. You must have an understanding of how you interact with the people around you.
How you communicate with others also plays a large part in how people perceive you in the executive world.
Our appearance is something that also impacts our executive presence.
You can also think of executive presence in three different categories. Behaviors that impact the leader's immediate self, the team, and the overall organization.
For continued learning about what executive presence is and why it is important for you, you can read this article with the 9 best TED Talks to help you understand executive presence.
Why Executive Presence Is More Important Than Ever
Having executive presence allows you to gain access to more new opportunities.
A lot of top business schools recognize having an executive presence as something that is critical to success in your career.
After reading an article published by the Harvard Business Review, they say that executive presence can be a make-or-break factor when receiving high powered promotions.
To read the full article, you can click here.
Part of the reason why having an executive presence is so important is that it enhances your ability to lead as well.
Leaders with executive presence are more likely to not just be results-driven, but they will also continue to learn and leverage their credibility. That is a huge benefit to you and the business.
The Key Elements Of Building Executive Presence
When looking at the elements of what creates executive presence
Communication
One of the things that our staff continually works on with our clients is communication skills. Communication is something that everyone is developing.
Ultimately, good leadership requires good communication. There needs to be good communication over all platforms. Being able to communicate over, written, verbal, and in-person as well.
One key factor of effective communication is taking ownership of any miscommunications. Looking back and understanding what went well and what could be improved upon when communicating a task to any member of the team.
Is communication or leadership skills something that you know you could work on?
Click here to read more about what Executive Coaching Now lists as the 5 leadership skills to learn.
Listening to Others Authentically
Executives with a strong presence are exceptional listeners. When they listen to a team member, they are fully engaged and give their full attention.
We need to have the ability to ask questions and investigate what is being communicated to us by the team.
Listening is essentially one of the many forms of communication that were just discussed. So being able to come across in a positive way when others are listening is a major component of building an executive presence.
Having A Quiet Confidence
When we see an executive with a presence, you automatically think of confidence. Confidence is a key factor when practicing executive presence.
The one pit-fall that people tend to fall into is the thought of, “the more confidence the better". The confidence quickly turns into cockiness.
Amy Cuddy is a professor at Harvard business school and she has given many talks on presence. She likes to say that “presence is confidence without arrogance".
You can watch her Ted Talk about how your body language can directly correlate with confidence here.
Being Mindful
Being able to handle stress under pressure and be a crucial part of being a successful executive.
When leading your team you need to understand how your presence comes across to others. Being mindful of your personal beliefs and your abilities are essential when it comes to leading your team during stressful situations.
At Executive Coaching Now, one of the things that we coach on is mindfulness. We understand that as executives you are under constant stress.
Especially with work being done remotely and becoming a part of our lives more than ever.
You can read more about what Executive Coaching Now can do to help you work through mindfulness on your way to finding executive presence.
Getting The Coaching You Need To Thrive
Executive Coach Now is a program that is designed to help you gain the executive presence that you desire.
We offer services such as an immediate executive coaching hotline.
At Executive Coaching Now we also offer a deeper dive into topics about the training and practicing of your executive presence.
If you are looking for continued coaching and assistance, you can sign up for an ongoing coaching package for continued learning and growth.
By signing up for coaching with Executive Coach Now, you are enhancing your chances of success in your career and in life.
Visit their website now to learn more and get the coaching you need today!
