Leadership presence combines several characteristics, including communication, adaptability, and visual factors like body language and dressing. A strong leadership presence increases your employees’ trust in you, and workplace productivity, among others.
What is leadership presence?
Leadership presence, also known as executive presence, is the ability to have an authentic connection on an intellectual and emotional level and motivate others toward a desired outcome.
As an effective leader, you should have a leadership presence for the following reasons:
Engaging people
When you have a strong leadership presence, you communicate and empathize with people effectively, making you more engaged with your work.
Helping teams accomplish goals
Leadership presence helps you establish a vision and set an example that motivates your team members to achieve the goals.
Cultivating a positive work environment
Leaders who develop strong leadership presences know how to influence other people. They lead by example with positive attitudes and create a positive working environment.
Improves organization performance
Teams and organizations that trust their leaders have greater productivity. Their leader inspires confidence in them and facilitates their goal accomplishment by modeling positive workplace behaviors and delivering results.
Pillars of leadership presence
According to Sylvia Ann Hewlett, there are three pillars of leadership presence. You can use them to develop your leadership skills or identify employees with leadership potential in your organization.
Gravitas (How you act)
Gravitas is a signal that you are prepared for the tasks and challenges ahead. It simply shows that you are an expert in your domain and comfortable answering any questions about your topic. When you have gravitas, you have the ability to keep cool when dealing with a difficult person or task.
According to Hewlett, the primary aspects of gravitas are confidence, decisiveness, integrity, emotional intelligence, reputation, and vision/charisma.
Consider asking yourself the following questions:
- Would people think twice before cross-questioning your statement or second-guessing your decision?
- Does your world hold value in your organization?
- Do people take you seriously?
If the answer to the above questions is Yes, then you have gravitas. Note that gravitas is not inborn but is a carefully cultivated skill.
Communication (How you speak)
Excellent communication skills are vital in leadership presence. It is the ability to convey your message clearly, concisely, and convincingly. Note that when talking about communication in leadership presence, it is not about eloquence but communicating clearly and confidently.
If you are delivering a message in person, always prepare what you will say beforehand and have data to back up whatever you are saying. For instance, if it is a board presentation, you will need to convince them that your plan will work.
Always use a neutral tone when communicating and encourage your team to participate in the discussion. Remember, your confidence and morale will inspire your team.
Appearance (How you look)
When talking about an appearance in leadership presence, we are not referring to your good looks, beauty, personality, or lack thereof. Instead, it is about how you present yourself at the workplace. For instance, a suit and tie do not inspire your confidence but how you wear them is what measures your appearance. To have a good appearance, you must know what works for you.
An organization’s culture has a lot to do with your appearance. For instance, you cannot show up for a banking job with denim or casual wear. The trick is knowing what to wear, how to wear it, and carrying whatever you are wearing like it was the designated dress code for the day.
Tips to develop your leadership presence
To develop a strong leadership presence, you will have to:
1. Read and adapt to different situations
Leadership presence enables you to take command of any situation. As a result, it is advisable to practice adapting to different situations that you may come across.
2. Keep a positive attitude
Having a positive attitude is essential because, as a leader, your attitude may influence the attitudes of the people you lead. Positive leadership also prepares you to handle adverse scenarios and tough times. Additionally, as a leader you have the sphere of influence that affects your team’s productivity.
3. Improve your confidence
Confidence is a key requirement for leadership presence. To improve your confidence, you should first value yourself, your thoughts, and your knowledge. Second, you should have skills in your area such that you are in a position to answer any question thrown at you. Leadership presence is about how you communicate, your level of self-control, your attitude, outlook, and appearance. You can also boost your confidence by standing upright, keeping your head up and shoulders back.
4. Communicate effectively
The small words we use sometimes carry so much weight. Your communication reflects on your personal brand, which is the reputation currency you must manage.
You can improve your communication skills by:
- Practicing your listening skills
- Asking for feedback on how you communicate
- Learning how to negotiate
- Practicing written and oral communication in a variety of environments
- Taking communication classes and reading books about communication
5. Motivating others
Motivating others involves developing a leadership vision, energizing your team, and ensuring everyone stay on track. Additionally, you can provide constructive feedback and performance reviews and recognize employee accomplishments. If a team member does something great, let them know by celebrating their wins and thanking them for their hard work.
6. First impression
How you present, yourself is the first impression you make to people. How you dress reflects the person you want to be; therefore, always ensure your clothing is appropriate for your industry. However, feel free to show your style.
Pay attention to your body language, as it sends messages to people even when you are not speaking.
Some body language worth practicing includes:
- Eye contact
- Smiling
- Posture
- Gestures
Increase your leadership presence today
Great leaders overcome fears, face inner conflicts and work with top coaches, mentors, and experts to ensure they are at their best. They possess self-confidence, compassion, kindness, and humor and have a profound perspective on life. If you are looking to develop your leadership presence, consider following the above-mentioned steps.