Executive presence: What it entails

How do you define Executive Presence? Because there is no single definition, or even agreement for that matter. Why? Because it’s a nebulous concept that people experience vs. intellectually categorize. Definitions fail in the attempt to make it a fixed trait; in reality it’s relational and contextual.

That said, here are some thoughts on what can build and diminish it.

Build: Open mindedness, a level of professional gravitas, confidence, self-awareness, authority, emotional intelligence

Diminish: Arrogance, poor listening skills, impatience, talking over people, poor communication.

To paraphrase former US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart on what constitutes pornography: “I know it when I see it.” Indeed.

Typically, executive presence comprises trust, calmness under pressure, someone who inspires people to listen and elevates the room.

Executive presence: Not to be confused with charisma

Don’t confuse it with charisma. Some charismatic people have little executive presence and vice versa. Interestingly, charisma is often applied to someone after they have become famous or successful.

Winston Churchill allegedly considered Gandhi to be most uncharismatic. His infamous quote: “It is alarming and also nauseating to see Mr. Gandhi, an Inner Temple lawyer, now become a seditious fakir of a type well known in the East, striding half-naked up the steps of the Viceregal Palace...” Certainly not Churchill’s finest moment.

Gandhi later in life, of course, was deemed to be exceptionally charismatic.  Churchill was judging him against a traditional, imperial conception of leadership. I digress.

Here are a couple of my favourite definitions of executive presence:

• The ability to inspire confidence through how you communicate, behave, decide and relate to others. 

• The art of being yourself while recognizing your impact on others.

The good news: you can develop your executive presence. It requires awareness of your impact on other people and the situations you confront, and the desire to improve. We’ll know it when we see it.