Executive Presence Coaching Success Stories to Learn From
Real-life case studies of executives and founders who have significantly benefited from executive presence coaching.
What is an Executive Presence?
Executive presence is frequently on the minds of many of my clients. Be they a founder or an executive, all gravitate towards having a presence that inspires more confidence. It is a tricky behavior to master and does not come naturally to many. In this article I will talk about what executive presence is, how it can be better understood and how coaching can help to discover and improve your executive presence.
There are many definitions of executive presence out there, and some are longer than others. I personally prefer brevity and efficiency when it comes to terminology. Thus I use this one from Dr. Sylvia Ann Hewlett, an economist, author, and the founder and chair of the Centre for Talent Innovation. According to her work, there are three key components of executive presence, ranked in order of importance:
Gravitas - How You Act
Communication - How You Speak
Appearance - How You Look
While I am borrowing the definition form Dr. Hewlett, I am adapting the breakdown to the way that I prefer to coach: through powerful questions and real-life cases.
Gravitas
Despite our intentions to excel at communication and appearance, our actions will always speak for themselves. We can use the finest words and wear the latest clothes from fashion magazines, but if we do not back those characteristics up with actions, the value of our leadership will be greatly diminished. So, what can you do to improve your actions? Before you go forward, it is good to assess where you are starting. Take stock of the following components typically measuring your gravitas.
Composure - How do you maintain calmness and poise in difficult situations? How do you demonstrate control over your emotions?
Integrity and Professionalism - How honest are you in your interactions? How reliable and responsible are you?
Decision-Making - How do you approach making decisions? Are you thoughtful of all of the details? Are you considering all perspectives?
Empathy and Respect - Do you genuinely show concern and care for the state of others?
Expertise - How do you demonstrate competence? Do you show just enough or do you share too many details?
Self Reflection
Anything come to mind? What do you think you can improve? Often, it is hard to figure out what next steps to take in order to improve. Try observing your co-workers who you believe score higher than you in each of the components. Notice, what are they doing differently? What characterizes their actions that makes you believe that they are better?
The sooner you become better at practicing these components, the sooner your gravitas will increase. Keep in mind that gravitas, like other components of executive presence, is very context-dependent. Be careful with practicing the methods that worked at other companies and in other contexts, as those may not mesh nicely with your current company culture.
Here is a dialogue that I had with one of my coachees about their leadership potential:
C - Coachee, V - Vladimir
V: Tell again about what happened in the meeting.
C: I had been presenting my part of the project and my colleague kept interrupting me with questions. I knew that he was wrong and I had asked him to wait until the end of the presentation so we could address his concerns. He kept insisting and I just yelled at him that he is wrong anyway and he needs to be patient.
V: Sounds like things got a bit heated in the room a bit?
C: They absolutely did. He got what he deserved!
V: Now, what do you think others have thought of this interaction?
C: What do you mean?
V: What do you think they will consider when asking you questions?
C: That they should wait their turn and come up with smart questions.
V: And what if they stop asking questions altogether?
C: Uhmmm….
V: What will that do to your leadership aspirations?
C: Uhmmm… but what could I have done? He was so annoying!
V: I understand that. What if your CEO was in the room, how would they handle the situation?
C: Probably very differently.
V: I believe we have identified an opportunity for further observation and study.
C: I agree.
Communication
“They” say that communication is the key to success. And often it is. What “they” don’t define, though, is what kind of communication gets you to the door - and what kind of communication is the key to unlocking it.
Clarity and Conciseness - Do you say too much or not enough? Does your audience leave confused or informed? Do you adjust your speaking style and presentation to your audience?
Active Listening - Do you wait for your turn to speak while holding a thought, or are you thinking of clarifying questions for your conversation partner?
Empathy and Understanding - Do you confirm and validate your partner's concerns or do you move on to the next topic?
Non-Verbal Communication - How do you hold your body? How do you position your hands? What do you communicate to your audience?
Feedback - Do you playback complex parts of the conversation? Do you ask for playback or ask questions to confirm that the information you had shared has been understood?
As with gravitas, seek out people in the industry or your organization who excel at these components and learn from their behavior.
An Executive Presence Coaching Example
This is a dialogue that I had with one of my coachees:
C - Coachee, V - Vladimir
C: [Shares upcoming presentation]
V: Which slides are you planning to show for the final meeting?
C: All of them, they are all important.
V: That’s about 100 slides there with a lot of text. What opportunities do you think there are to reduce that number?
C: Why would I reduce the number of slides? I need to communicate all of the details.
V: Why do you need to communicate all of the details?
C: This way everyone will understand where all of the information came from and be more informed.
V: I see, How long did it take you to collect and study all of this information?
C: About 3 months?
V: And how much time do you have to present all of this?
C: About 2 hours.
V: What I heard you say right now is that you are planning to present information that you have studied over 3 months in just 2 hours, did I get that right?
C: Yes…
V: While you are certainly able to squeeze all of that content in 2 hours, what do you think the audience will take away from the presentation?
C: Uhmmm… that I did a very thorough job
V: What is the primary goal of the presentation?
C: To present a report to our executive audience to highlight our teams’ achievements.
V: How does that goal compare with the takeaway you have mentioned above?
C: …..Oh… They feel slightly different now.
V: What do you think has happened?
C: I think I was optimizing for a wrong outcome and I need to redo the presentation.
Appearance
While the last time on the list, appearance is definitely not the least. While you still can squeeze by and have a decent executive presence without looking good, it certainly is a fantastic multiplier when executed well. There is no absolute way that one should dress in order to execute confidence, however in different contexts, certain attires are preferential.
Who is the leader in your organization you would like to emulate the most? Understand their style and figure out if there is a derivative version of their clothes that you can wear. If you try to wear exactly the same clothes, you are risking to be perceived as a “teacher’s pet” and lose respect. If you are the leader of the organization, and don’t have a leader above yourself, look to the leaders of your industry. There is a caveat of course, that while styles could be similar, they should be slightly different in order to draw clear lines to match your company’s corporate identity.
Another Executive Presence Coaching Interaction
C - Coachee, V - Vladimir
C: I don’t really care how others dress and look as long as they do their job.
V: That is an interesting perspective, where do you think this statement might be false?
C: I am not sure, this is what I always thought.
V: What would happen if the presidents of the countries or companies dressed and looked however they wanted?
C: I think I am starting to see your point, but I am not the president of the country, why do I need to follow certain attire?
V: That is certainly true, and while you might not care about what others wear, what do you think others would think of your leadership potential if you dress the way you dress now?
C: Oh… I get it now. It is not really about just how I think of others, it is how others think of me for leadership roles.
And that’s it! Hopefully this article about executive presence was helpful to you. Let’s chat more on the parts that you found interesting schedule a complimentary coaching session.
