Executive presence? what exactly is it?
If you are in the corporate world and you are being considered for that next level leadership or seniority position is called executive presence.
You may have heard your manager or boss hint you something that you need to develop for yourself, something that they are looking to see in you.
In the corporate world there you do some leadership work as well as you work with corporate professionals.
People who are rising to more-senior levels have yet to hear a manager’s description of this executive presence.
Executive presence in such a way that it makes it tangible, accessible and clear to the individual who needs to go out and develop this.
WHAT’S IN IT
Interpretation
We are going to demystify the executive presence term for you today because if you are moving up you’re going to need to express and develop this and it’s going to be very handy.
Suppose you considered for that next level role in your job you are good at what you do. No doubt about it hence the fact that you are being considered you are going to take on some leadership responsibilities in this new role.
Whether it is managing people influencing bigger decision having a deeper level of impact whatever the case may be this is leadership and leadership comes as a responsibility you want to grow into that responsibility and own it like it’s yours
Role of Executive presence
The term executive presence is synonymous with leadership now how do we make it tangible for you.
Executive presence is the perception of others on how you show up so it is a perception of upper management of your peers.
The people who are around you whom you interact with maybe even customers and partners depending on your organization set up.
It is called the perception of how they see you as a leader, as an influencer, as a communicator.
so executive presence is the sum of your leadership skills and it’s something that can be felt and seen and observed by your environment.
How you show up as a leader
You show up in so many different ways you communicate, you communicate verbally, written via voice, voicemail phone via meeting.
Whether they are web conferencing or in-person you communicate one-on-one in a private setting and in the group you may present
So all the way that you communicate is how you show up think about that situation and ask yourself what is one word that people are most likely to use to describe you when they think about your presence.
In those situations, for example, what is one word that your boss would describe when they think about how you show up in a weekly meeting is it confident.
You are always in a rush, is it’s shy and quiet and then ask yourself the obvious question what is that your boss wants to see in you.
Those meeting to promote you to that next level and check off that executive presence box confidence in one that comes to mind and you can be confident and still express your concern and have a good laugh and all of that but confidence is essential
Level of Influence
So how do you show up in those situations and express influence in the business decision, influence in conversation and the direction of that conversation, influenced by expressing your expertise
So think about the way your express your thoughts and your opinions are you being heard are people respectfully listening to you,
Are you listening to them? Are you savvy at how you communicate as a leader? That is another skill that is synonymous with your executive presence you show up with energy. We are energetic beings we show up with energy if it’s enough.
If you want to simplify this ask yourself. What is the energy you carry with yourself? is it the energy of confidence and approachability, is it the energy of frustration is it the energy of impatience.
This is a question where you need to be honest with yourself. If you don’t know the answer you need to ask someone. Tthat you can trust someone who is observing you in the workplace.
Someone who would be willing to tell you the truth and maybe you can pick up a couple of people. Collect some real true feedback.
If people give you consistent feedback that you are always in a hurry. That maybe you don’t take the time to listen that you interrupt all the time.
You are late to meeting maybe two minutes is not a big deal to you but it is to others. Think about how you need to change that show as someone that people look up to like you.
Think about this you no doubt have some ideas how you might be changing your ways. These are the things you need to think about when you want to develop that executive presence
Building executive presence with body language
The body is like a house. People make judgments from the outside when they look at the house. The same is true with nonverbal communication.
People see us and they assess us right away. People make that assessment in left than one blink of an eye.
When we are in their presence that does not give us a whole lot of time to do. Well in our communication you don’t have to do a lot of public speaking.
You do need to buy into the idea. By improving your hand gesture, your facial expression, your eye contact that you are going to have a great impact on your audience.
Tip
Never ask your boss how to develop an executive presence that already implies you. Do not understand the concept and you need help developing it.
As a result, ironically pushes you further away from that next level promotion and leadership opportunity.
To find out, develop yourself other way work with a coach. This is part of the work that I do when people.
Move up to the leadership role working with a mentor at your company take a course whatever you need to do but don’t imply that you don’t understand.
This term this is the most common mistakes that people do
Conclusion
Executive presence is all about how you show up and you show up in many different ways
Think about how you can take that to the next level. So you always show up as a powerful and confident leader.
Also read our blog on The job description of Executive Assistant (EA)