I’ve seen an increase in requests from companies and law firms seeking help for a high potential leader to improve their “executive presence”. When I inquire into what they mean by executive presence I get a variety of responses.
I usually ask the HR person or actual potential executive coaching client to describe the leader’s current behavior and what cultivating more executive presence would look like behaviorally. The behaviors range from having an engaging personality to increased emotional intelligence.
I’ve found that the term executive presence can mean different things to different people. Asking penetrating questions to gain more clarity for both the client and executive coach is critical to the executive coaching process.
Searching for Executive Presence
An Internet search on executive presence reveals definitions and advice on everything from dressing for success and patterns of speech to more fundamental issues of emotional and social intelligence.
Some conclude that executive presence has little to do with polish, poise, sophistication or even use of body language and gestures. In many cases, executives with presence are just as likely to lack these qualities.
In this day and age, executive presence comes in all shapes and sizes, including some you wouldn’t normally recognize. Who would have thought, 30 years ago, that Bill Gates would command it? Would Mark Zuckerberg, the 26-year-old founder of Facebook, have stood out as a high-potential CEO? But as one of the youngest men ever to be named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year, he certainly has presence—albeit a “Gen Y” version of it.
If you want to be promoted to the C-suites, you must learn how to acquire or improve your level of executive presence. If you are already in senior management, you must recognize your current potential and help nurture executive presence in the people you want to groom for succession.
Are you working in a professional services firm or other organization where executive coaches provide leadership development for emotionally intelligent leaders? Does your organization provide executive coaching to help leaders develop executive presence? Leaders with highly developed executive presence tap into their emotional intelligence and social intelligence skills to fully engage employees and customers.
One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “How do I define executive presence?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations provide executive coaching for collaborative leaders who create sustainable businesses.