Executive Presence! Date:   Thursday , September 08, 2011 As managers, we all would like to remain relevant, respected and valued. This involves, of course, a lot of hard work and credibility. But as smart and successful managers recognize, this also demands executive presence. There is no simple definition of what this means. Executive presence is how we are perceived holistically by those we work with, in an organizational context. This has become an essential leadership competence for effective relationships at work and for producing results. Without it, there is a significant possibility that our viewpoints may not carry impact and our ability to rally the necessary resources and support will be limited. As managers, our effectiveness can be substantially high or low based on our executive presence. We come across colleagues and leaders in our organizations with executive presence. We recognize it when we experience the same. Executive presence plays a major role in interpersonal engagement. However, there are many misconceptions that need to be expelled and clarified on this subject. Listed below are some of them: * Executive Presence comes with position or hierarchy. Nothing can be further from the truth. The fact is that in most organizations, several senior executives are struggling to build their executive presence, having made it to the senior levels. Commanding respect and following has become a huge challenge for them * Executive Presence is about creating the best “first impression.” Again, this is not true. While those with excellent executive presence do create a great first impression every time, executive presence is built through long-lasting impressions and takes time to build. *Executive Presence is an innate quality. Again, this is not true. Pundits on this subject state that in reality, most of us are not born with this attribute. This is clearly a competence that is consciously built, honed and polished all the time. Investing in time and effort helps get to a decent level of executive presence. And there lies the good news that all of us can become reasonably good at this, with practice! *Executive Presence is same as Impression Management. This is perhaps one of the most popular misconceptions. While doing the right things at the right time to create the right impressions is clearly part of building one’s executive presence, it is not entirely the function of impression management. Smart people that constitute the workforce can discern what is pure ‘acting smart’ and what is ‘real.’ *Executive Presence comes when you combine the whole lot of smart qualities and behaviours: you need to have the charm of a piped piper, the articulation skill of Ronald Regan, stage presence of Steve Jobs, and a six-pack abs &be six feet tall! Reality is that no one has the perfect mix or blend of all the great stuff that add to the executive presence. Managers with executive presence actually are not so unique and gifted. They have some of the attributes that they excel at and are actually average in many other attributes. Now that we understand some of the misconceptions around executive presence, let us look at what goes to constitute a respectable executive presence: 1. Confidence: This is a very noticeable quality of all with executive presence. This confidence comes from preparation and optimism. Again, overconfidence does not help. People with executive presence are actually marked by their ability to self-doubt to be objective! 2. Humility: They are willing to admit their mistakes and ignorance, they do not pretend to be a know-all superman, acknowledge their fears, misjudgments, and anxieties. They seek out for advice to their colleagues and juniors, not just their bosses. 3. Grace, thoughtfulness and politeness: They put other’s needs before their own, treat others as they would like to be treated, and express gratitude and graciousness every day. They are on the top of little courtesies that matter: be it offering a seat to those who visit their office, thanking them for a job well done or for pointing out their mistakes! 4. Authenticity: They learn a lot from watching others, but do not try to be anyone’s carbon copy- not even that of their professed role models. They are every bit their original and authentic self. They do not pretend for a moment what they are not. 5. Communication Skills: They articulate their points of view very well, use appropriate metaphors, listen empathetically and are big time believers in influencing through persuasion and data. They pay attention when someone is talking to them and give them a sense of being valued and understood 6. Honesty: They build a consistent image of being honest, by being honest! They do not do double-talk or discuss people in bad taste behind them. They are perceived as no-nonsense, straight forward and simple-to-deal with people! This is perhaps the most important quality of all for building an executive presence. When this is absent, other qualities may not help much! 7. Humour: They exhibit a great and appropriate sense of humour that lightens conversations and not belittles anyone present or not present. Sense of humour embellishes the executive presence! They can think on their feet and are quick to respond. 8. Candor: They speak their minds and are predictable. They encourage people around them to speak their mind without inhibitions, while simultaneously being sensitive to how others will take it. Again this is not something that anyone anywhere can teach, but one learns this by observing how leaders with executive presence behave. Have a Mentor or Coach: This list can be longer. But most important of the attributes that add to executive presence are covered above. Managers who would like to improve their executive presence can benefit from taking a good coach or mentor for taking guidance. Almost half of my own executive coaching work focuses on helping thecoachees to build executive presence by systematically building and improving attributes where they have maximum chance of improvement. It takes practice. As someone said, great athletes are marked by a difference. They do not practice until they get it right; they actually practice until they cannot get it wrong! This holds good when you practice executive presence as well!