How to Have Executive Presence When It Doesn’t Come Naturally

For some, demonstrating leadership qualities seems to be effortless. People appear naturally drawn to them; they have charisma, gravitas and an air of authority. Most of us, however, aren’t born with Executive Presence. Even those making it look easy have almost always practiced relentlessly to hone the aura they are projecting. It is something that must be developed. In the corporate training, “Executive Presence: Four Ways to Convey Confidence and Command Respect as a Leader” I discuss methods you can use to build your executive presence abilities. It isn’t about your current formal title or level of leadership – what matters is your presence and the image you project. Want to be known as someone with Executive Presence? Read on for some ideas on developing your skillset.

1.????Be Concise

Despite some unfortunate popular thinking, demonstrating leadership rarely amounts to being the one who talks the most. Think about the people in your organization who speak with clarity and purpose. The ones who can and do actively follow the flow of a conversation. The ones who add to it usefully to clarify ideas or ask thought-provoking questions. No need to talk at length - be clear and crisp.

Build your ‘concise’ muscle to seem more confident in your position. People will be drawn to that focus. Practice your speaking and plan ahead with your key ideas so you can speak to them efficiently, and with conviction.

2.????Be Decisive

In addition to brevity, learn to convey your ideas with certainty. While people often want to participate in the process and discussion, they are often looking for someone to take the lead and make a final decision. Be willing to take charge, determine a direction and assign tasks and priorities to make it happen.

As you work on your ‘decisive’ muscle, remember that people are usually looking for leadership. Ask a lot of questions, listen to the answers, collect the feedback and make a final call. Be the one to take that bold step and finalize the decision. Leadership isn’t the end of collaboration, just another facet of it.

3.????Be Composed

Leadership is often not about what happens when everything is going well, but about how you behave when stressful situations develop. True leadership is most visible when tension rises or a crisis hits. Demonstrate your executive presence by remaining calm, even when others panic.

Practice your ‘composure’ and maintain your poise. Listen, ask questions and maintain a neutral tone to your voice.

Always keep the conversation’s focus on finding a solution rather than determining fault. Even in the aftermath when things are calmer, focus on learning for next time over laying blame. Being calm and future-focused will always stick in the minds of those who witness it.

4.????Be Credible

Your reputation, built at every stage of your career, travels with you. Strive to be known as someone who is accurate and reliable. It might not seem like a leadership quality at first glance, but it is absolutely an aspect of comfort and security for those above and below you.

If you need to build your ‘credibility’ muscle, commit yourself to the behavior. Whether you need to improve your transparency, work on meeting your deadlines or learn to only make commitments you know you can keep, the work will be tough, but worth it. It can be a challenging thing to admit you have reliability work to do, but your reputation will be immeasurably improved by your effort.

You don’t often need special opportunities to flex your executive presence muscles – no matter what your current leadership level, you can start following my tips above in everyday situations. Begin by making even small adjustments in your manner, your tone and your poise in the course of your work day. You’ll start to see the perception of your leadership quality begin to change. Natural leaders aren’t all born, and even the ones you perceive as natural may have had to work on it. Keep working; it’s worth it.

Do you have executive presence? If not, this executive presence book will show you how to convey confidence, command respect, and exude a professional magnetism. Joel provides executive coaching and also conducts?corporate trainings?to help leaders up their executive presence competency. He recently presented a customized series of webinars for an international company striving to develop their leaders to have more executive presence. Joel is recognized as one of the top 50 coaches in the U.S., and the author of 11 motivational books. Subscribe to his?Fulfillment at Work Newsletter?and his YouTube channel?which has over 100 of Joel’s 2-minute inspirational video clips.