Mastering Executive Presence: 10 Tips for Success

Executive Presence is something that separates successful leaders from the rest. It is a set of qualities that exude confidence, authority, and professionalism, which makes others want to follow them. This presence is a critical aspect of leadership and cannot be overlooked. But what exactly is it and how do you have more of it???

Let's start with the Why... Why does executive presence even matter?

Your primary goal in most interactions is to gain trust and confidence that "You've got this". Having executive presence creates that trust, confidence, and credibility. When you have it, people value your opinion and trust your decisions. It also helps in developing mutually respectful relationships with power colleagues, superiors, and subordinates.

So what is executive presence?

In a recent group coaching conversation with a group of executive product leaders we came up with 10 things that help you exude "Executive Presence":

1. Be yourself... everyone else is taken. As you read through the rest of the items below, choose which ones to incorporate and HOW you do that based on who you are, what you find valuable, where you want to go :)

2. Be aware of your audience's needs, but don't let that get into your head ... "be brave, not perfect". Also know like any product, you can't fulfill the needs of everyone all the time, choose who's most important to address and then move forward once you're successful. A product for everyone is a product for no one.

3. Many of you interpret executive presence as confidence -- which you have by remembering that you DO belong in the room and at the table, that you have value to contribute, that you have knowledge, and that your humble enough to say when you don't... which helps you decide when to lead and when to follow and when to be decisive and when to be collaborative.

4. Know your audience... by getting to know them directly or through proxies. Always be thinking about WIIFY (what's in it for you) when sharing ideas and questions.

5. Your primary goal is always to be building trust and confidence in you as a leader... all the other goals are secondary, and it's okay if they take longer than you want. The most trust and confidence you build today, the easier getting those other things done will be.

6. One way to build trust is to "borrow" it from others in the room who have already built it. Call on other people with gravitas to support your ideas, have them talk about why they value what you are proposing.

7. Provide the right level of information (which often less is more) to show that you've done your homework, but you don't need to show it. Think executive summary not book report. Using the What/So What/Now What framework can be helpful.

8. Make a loose plan of how you present your ideas, and remember that no one else knows what it was if you change it. Be sure to start with framing the conversation about what your goal is (inform, align, get advice, reach a decision, etc.) so that others can know how to listen and what you expect from them.

9. Practice... even practice doing Improv stuff, as thinking on your feet is a big part of what we do. Try even A/B testing what you're doing and seeing what works for different people.

10. It's okay not to have all the answers, or be the person who finds the answers... the strongest leaders can admit when research needs to be done and can assign a team member to do the research. Be a delegator not a doer!

What's next???

In conclusion, executive presence is the difference between being a good leader and being a great leader. It’s worth investing time and effort to develop this skill as it can make all the difference in your career. These tips will help you get started on your journey to creating a strong executive presence, but remember that it takes time, effort, and practice to develop it.