Leading With Impact: The Science of Leadership Presence

How would you define “leadership presence?”?? When I ask that question of an audience, I typically get as many different definitions as there are audience members!

But I’ve observed there is a common thread that runs through all those different definitions:

• Leadership presence is the ability to manage your emotions in a manner that prevents them from derailing effective leadership actions.?

This means that managing your emotions is a key to creating leadership presence and leadership success.?

The scientific study of emotions has evolved over the past several decades.? With the advent of technology that allows us to watch the brain think and emote, new discoveries are being made at an accelerating pace.? And for thousands of years before this technology, wise men such as Buda and Jesus knew of and taught about the value of understanding and managing emotions. ?Still, despite all the interest and effort, even modern-day scientists researching emotion can’t agree on a universal theory of emotions. ?Such is the evolving nature of science.?

However, some very practical approaches to managing emotions have come from this long history of interest and research.? One of the most interesting findings is that our human intuition for how emotions work is all wrong.? Here is how most of us think emotions work:

• Something happens in our world, such as receiving an unjustified complaint from a valued client.? This is the trigger.
• That trigger activates the brain’s emotional systems and creates an emotion in us, such as anger.
• That anger then drives un-leaderlike actions, such as various forms of defensiveness, which we later regret.

In reality, emotions have been shown to follow a bit more complicated path, but one that reveals an opportunity for managing them.? It goes like this:

• Something happens in our world such as receiving an unjustified complaint from a valued client.? This is the trigger.
• That trigger activates the brain’s emotional systems, which creates a physiological responses in our body such as increased heart rate.?
• Our brain’s thinking systems then interpret that physiological body reaction and labels it as some emotion – “that’s anger!”
• That anger then drives un-leaderlike actions, such as various forms of defensiveness, which we later regret.

Do you see the difference, and the opportunity that difference creates to manage dysfunctional emotions more effectively?? It’s all about taking advantage of the small gap that exists between the trigger and the defensive reactions created by our brain’s thinking and emotional systems.? Here are some steps to take to “do it differently” the next time a triggering event comes your way:

1. Begin by paying attention to how your own body responds to triggers. Does your stomach churn?? Does your heart rate increase?? Does your face flush and get hot? Do your muscles get tight?? If so, which ones? Your neck muscles? The muscles in your hands? ??Your jaw muscles?? Taking an inventory of how your body respond to the stress of a trigger sets you up to respond intentionally rather than react on autopilot.?
2. Each time you notice these physiological reactions, pause and be intentional about noticing what meaning you are giving to the situation and what label you are giving to the emotion. What emotion is your brain’s thinking system assigning to that problem situation? Is it anger, frustration, anxiety, sadness, or some other uncomfortable emotion? Research has shown that just labeling and acknowledging the emotion can help calm it and make it easier to manage.
3. Next, examine how you can cognitively reframe the situation from being a problem (an unhappy client) to being an opportunity (a chance to show this client how much you value them). Cognitive reframing will help your brain’s thinking systems lead the emotional systems to create a more productive and functional emotion.?
4. Finally, to maintain the positive momentum, keep your focus on the opportunity created by the trigger, not the problem.???

Developing leadership presence is a continuous journey of self-awareness and intentional action. By understanding the intricate dance your brain moves through from trigger to response, you gain a powerful opportunity to reshape your leadership narrative, leaving a lasting impact on those you lead and inspire.

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