How do people feel about you after meeting you? If they feel confident in your leadership, your confidence, and your ability to make difficult decisions under pressure, then your executive presence is shining brightly!
On the other hand, if you don’t feel you’re getting the respect or recognition you deserve at your current career level, chances are something is lacking in the way you present yourself.
The good news is that you can change the way others perceive you by strengthening your executive presence!
Your executive presence is what people will remember about you after you’ve left the room. It includes your confidence and competence, the strength and calmness you exude in challenging circumstances, and your ability to communicate effectively.
It’s not about being confident that you know everything about a certain topic or industry, or certain that you won’t make a mistake. It is knowing that you will find a solution for every challenge you encounter – that you are aware of your own strengths and weaknesses and also understand how to leverage the strengths of your team to achieve your organization’s goals. One of the beliefs that will hold you back in developing your leadership skills is thinking that your success depends solely on your own individual knowledge and skills. In focusing too much on your own perfection, you will miss the value available within your team. Not only do will you take too much pressure on yourself, but you may also fall apart at the first sign of a mistake, because you’ve attached success to your individual performance.
Your executive presence is what people will remember about you after you’ve left the room. It includes your confidence and competence, the strength and calmness you exude in challenging circumstances, and your ability to communicate effectively.
Confidence that you are competent and able to bring together the unique talents of a diverse team is entirely different. Rather than focusing on your need to be perfect, you see the possibilities for success and for growth in your team, as a whole. This empowers each member to excel, increasing the team’s collective impact and success.
One of the beliefs that will hold you back in developing your leadership skills is thinking that your success depends solely on your own individual knowledge and skills
Your ability to navigate difficult circumstances with calmness and assurance is another aspect of your executive presence. Those who work with you and for you need to feel like they can trust your decision making and your steady strength in times of uncertainty.
This doesn’t mean that you need to have all the answers when chaos ensues, or that you need to be unaffected by the circumstances. It means that you are not easily shaken, and you are able to make decisions effectively, no matter what is going on around you. This is something the US Military teaches during bootcamp, which is proof that you can learn to lead under pressure. Officers are placed in high-stress environments and forced to make quick decisions, despite what’s going on around them. This teaches them to function effectively during key moments when the lives of their teams depend on this ability.
Those who work with you and for you need to feel like they can trust your decision making and your steady strength in times of uncertainty.
Knowing how to manage stressful situations and make decisions that position your team to succeed is one of the most important elements of leadership. If your team is convinced that you will take care of them at the most difficult moments, they will follow you as a leader.
Another key component of your executive presence is the clarity with which you are able to communicate with people at every level of the organization. If you are able to clarify the mission, goals, and needs of your team, you set it up for a successful outcome. Whether getting buy-in from a decision maker in the C-suite, or communicating expectations to a direct report, understanding how to clearly express both the information and the intent behind the information, is essential.
Teams that communicate well enjoy greater success, as well as a more positive and supportive culture, than those that don’t.
Whether getting buy-in from a decision maker in the C-suite, or communicating expectations to a direct report, understanding how to clearly express both the information and the intent behind the information, is essential.
Building your executive presence will open the door to countless career opportunities. The way you carry yourself can inspire confidence that you are prepared to lead and are willing to make hard decisions. It’s the foundation of career achievement.
Knowing that you have significant value to contribute, while also recognizing the value of those around you, shows that you are the type of leader who can drive progress and get results.
Learn to assess your own strengths and weaknesses, and listen to the thoughts and ideas of those around you. Understand how your communication style affects people’s perception of you, and take steps to ensure effectiveness and clarity. Remember that you don’t have to have all the answers; you just need to know how to tap into the strengths of others and create solutions.
Knowing that you have significant value to contribute, while also recognizing the value of those around you, shows that you are the type of leader who can drive progress and get results.
How do people feel about you after you’ve left the room? If you want to prepare yourself to make your career goals a reality, it’s time to be intentional about developing a powerful executive presence.
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