Like this article? PLEASE +1 it! Evan Signature
Evan Carmichael Top Header
Share for a Cause









Mastering the Art of Executive Presence

Written by: Roger Ingbretsen

Article Overview: As an executive you virtually live in a fishbowl. People are constantly observing you and forming opinions about your capabilities. You must constantly and genuinely mold these opinions about who you are, and what you can accomplish.You must master the art of executive presence.

Free Download - Stay Employed In A Down Economy By Roger Ingbretsen
Name: Email:

Mastering the Art of Executive Presence

For today’s executive, both the spoken and unspoken expectations have risen substantially. Executives are judged by more than just results. They are also judged on how they present themselves to others on and off the job. How they perform and are perceived while they perform, are almost as important as the results they attain.

Everyone from the Board of Directors to the employee on the loading dock, to customers and community leaders, have expectations for individuals in executive leadership roles; the higher the position, the greater the expectations. A combination of business savvy, leadership, confidence, competence, and social acumen project an image of someone who should be taken seriously and who has the ability to influence others. As an executive you virtually live in a fishbowl. People are constantly observing you and forming opinions about your capabilities. You must constantly and genuinely mold these opinions about who you are, and what you can accomplish.

Without speaking a word, the actions of an executive speak volumes. The way you walk through an office or into a meeting, and the ease you demonstrate when shaking hands and initiating conversations are all under the scrutiny of others. The words you choose the tone of your voice and yes even the cloths you wear all combine to paint a picture of your executive presence. Research conducted by S. C. Gatton & Associates showed that Executive Presence is comprised of five areas:

• Knowledge & Experience
• Leadership Savvy
• Advanced Communication Skills
• Executive Image
• Social Acumen
• I would add a sixth: Financial Acumen

“Mastering the art of executive presence” requires two important breakthroughs. First, a willingness to “assess and understand yourself” and explore the way others may perceive you. Second, is the desire to “master your strengths, talents, behaviors and skills,” so they can enhance, alter or confirm those perceptions.

These two major breakthroughs most often require having a strong mentor, a close and honest confidant or an executive coach, all of who are capable of providing you the assessment and feedback required to be successful in today’s organizational environment.

You may think executive presence is easy to see and hard to define; however, it is not as much of a mystery as you might think. Executive presence is not about fluff or first impressions; it is about the belief or feeling about you, which develops over time based on other individuals’ experiences with you. When you do the right thing for the right reason, communicate clearly and succinctly, build trust, open up business opportunities and create professional and financial success, you are well on the way toward creating executive presence. The following 25 elements will help you master the art of developing a powerful executive presence.

25 Steps To Help You Develop Your Executive Presence

1.Continually demonstrate that the knowledge and experience you offer are of value to the organization.
2. Be a contributor, rather than an observer, at the planning table.
3. Realize that your self-confidence and abilities will be constantly tested and scrutinized.
4. Develop the ability to see underlying relationships and get at the meaning beneath the surface.
5. Distinguish the important factors in a situation from “noise.”
6. Craft a compelling story of the organization’s challenges and opportunities.
7. Learn who the important players are in the organization and in the customer base and know what issues matter to them.
8. Be politically adept, leveraging relationships with people to address problems and take advantage of opportunities both inside and outside of the organization.
9. Do and say what is right, not just what is expedient or what others want to hear, even if it is at substantial personal risk.
10. Foster passion among your staff and build a sense of enthusiasm for the work at hand.
11. Continually develop your influence and persuasion skills.
12. Set a course for others to follow toward a strategically important vision and goals.
13. Act with bold decisiveness when there is a difficult decision to be made.
14. Emphasize solutions rather than hurdles.
15. Articulate business needs and guide the organization to better processes and solutions, tactfully challenging your colleagues’ positions, when necessary.
16. Tap into all lines of communication to get the information you need.
17. Be able to quickly and accurately understand the subtleties others inject into conversations and to act accordingly.
18. Know how to bridge generation gaps, gain commitment from all stakeholders in your communication and deal effectively across functional units within the organization.
19. Present an informed and credible message to the executive team, especially designed to quickly and concisely address their concerns and obtain consensus.
20. Master the ability to present unfavorable news with undaunted assurance for the future.
21. Provide steadfast confidence when driving the organization in a new direction, and convey a new vision with a zest for results.
22. Learn to meet through effective communications, the expectations of your direct reports, peers, senior executives and the board of directors.
23. Use courtesy and etiquette to make guests, customers, and employees comfortable in any situation so you can create engaging, open conversations that move relationships forward.
24. Use electronic communications appropriately so you can connect as easily in the virtual world as you do in live conversation.
25. Read cultural and regional differences so you can respond appropriately and keep relationships inside and outside of the organization positive and open.

An executive presence is about creating a consistent image of you as a compelling force both inside and outside the organization. You must become very adept at using your ability to influence others not by title or authority; but, by your professional magnetism to motivate others to positively shape and attain the desired outcome needed for organizational success.

The requirements for developing executive presence are clear. You need to continually build your credibility along with your “wow” factor. People respect and gravitate toward those leaders who walk into a meeting or social event and attract intense, positive attention. You need to be personally accountable for developing your executive presence if you are going to become the leader that others want to follow.

Related Articles
  Searching for Executive Presence
  Executive Presence and Leadership Development
  Developing Executive Presence - What Really Matters
  Develop Your Executive Presence
  Lag Time

Home > Leadership > Roger Ingbretsen > Mastering the Art of Executive Presence
Article Tags: board of directors, cloths, communication skills, community leaders, competence, conversations, executive image, executive presence, financial acumen, fishbowl, forming opinions, gatton, leadership roles, perceptions, scrutiny, shaking hands, stro, talents, tone of your voice, willingness

About the Author: Roger Ingbretsen
RSS for Roger's articles - Visit Roger's website

Roger has a Masters degree in Organizational Leadership, from Gonzaga University, a dual undergraduate degree in Economics & Business Administration, from Park University, an AA degree in Business, as well as 1,500 certified hours of training in technical disciplines. He’s had over forty articles, numerous white papers and two books and two eBooks published.

Roger is a member of the International Coaching Federation. Additionally, he has completed many professional training programs attaining numerous certifications, a few of which include: The Harvard Law School “win-win” negotiation process, the Center for Creative Leadership “360-Degree Feedback” evaluation process and “Coach the Coach” program, the Zenger Miller “Team Training Certification Seminar” and “Executive Coaching” practices from the Professional School of Psychology, California. He is also a qualified administrator of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality inventory.

 

 




Click here to visit Roger's website
Dashed Line

More from Roger Ingbretsen
Leadership by Example
Personal Responsibility and Work
Is America Preparing Its Future Workforce
Eleven Step Educators Guide for Preparing Students for Success In the Real World
Understanding Organizational Culture


Related Forum Posts
$1000 and a stupid idea $1000 and a stupid idea - [quote="OmnivoreInk":8mkh1lv7]Bill and Heidi Dittmar: Executive Lifestyle founders of a magazine called Executive Lifestyle. Started in 1991. Revenue has grown more than 200% since 2004. 4 full time, 3 part time employees "We started off with $1,000 and a stupid idea." It began as This Month, a guide for tourists, and morphed into Executive Lifestyle.[/quote:8mkh1lv7] Hi Barbara, I find this story about Bill and Heidi Dittmar's success to be especially interesting! Would you happen to know what the catalyst or tipping point was for their change from a guide for tourists to an Executive Lifestyle magazine? Thanks
5 Entrepreneur's success stories 5 Entrepreneur's success stories - My local paper's business section profiled 5 successful entrepreneurs in the Jan 6, 2008 issue of the paper. Thought I'd share just a bit of it here. Bill and Heidi Dittmar: Executive Lifestyle Jeff Wassmer: Spectrum Deloise Hawkins, Star Whitaker and Lenzy Hill: Touch of Elegance Stephen Brosius: Advanced Door Systems Pam Watson: Goodrich and Watson Insurers Bill and Heidi Dittmar: Executive Lifestyle founders of a magazine called Executive Lifestyle. Started in 1991. Revenue has grown more than 200% since 2004. 4 full time, 3 part time employees "We started off with $1,000 and a stupid idea." It began as This Month, a guide for tourists, and morphed into Executive Lifestyle. Jeff Wassmer: Spectrum Company specializes in computer network security and intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance. Wassmer was an 11-year Air Force guy, so he had "ins" in order to form this business. Deloise Hawkins, Star Whitaker and Lenzy Hill: Touch of Elegance Founded business in 1994. 12 employees. Their company designs and plans an average of 25 events each month in Hampton Roads and other parts of Virginia. Stephen Brosius: Advanced Door Systems Started company in 1995. 5 full-time employees, plus subcontractors. After having worked as a subcontractor for others in the construction business for 20 years, he decided to start his own business. Pam Watson: Goodrich and Watson Insurers At age 49, she was approached by an insurance colleague to buy out their employer's insurance division. They did so, and became employers themselves., witj 4 full-time people.
Re: History of Women in Business in the United States Re: History of Women in Business in the United States - Yes. Women have increasingly made positive economic contributions to society and their position is being recognized more and more as seen on the Forbes List of Executive Women. In general, women can be a bit more practical in their approach as entrepreneurs too.
Re: what position to request? Re: what position to request? - What do you think of: Executive Manager? Director of Product Management? I am not interested in working as a freelancer. As I mentioned, the purpose of what I am doing is to get involved into a startup that may become successful in the future. This is a situation when a group of people get together to launch something promising and invest into this their time and energy and even may be money.
Post subject: It's Not Personal, just business Post subject: It's Not Personal, just business - I so agree! Actually, the business world as we know it IS in trouble. I heard some stats last week that they expect by the time 2050 that 70% of workers will be freelancers. Employee/Executive Bullying won't be able to stand it when it could be easier for someone to simply contract with the nicer guy (or gal). I, for one, will be choosing the nicer ones!


Recommended Article for You close

  Searching for Executive Presence

Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.



Featured Article


Bottom Footer
Share for a Cause












Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!
Name:
Email:
Popular Articles

Executive Blind Spots

How to choose your executive coach -1

Small Business Internet Marketing

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.