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Introduction

A Primer on Executive Presence

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SHORTLY AFTER THE first edition of this book was published in 2009, a senior talent management executive from pharmaceutical giant Merck called to inquire about our Executive Presence coaching programs. She and her colleagues had identified a group of internal leaders who needed to work on their executive presence, she said, and she wanted us to coach them. Then she paused for a moment and asked, “But . . . what is it?”

This reminded me of a now famous phrase, expressed in a written opinion by a U.S. Supreme Court justice in a 1964 pornography case (Jacobellis v. Ohio) about what is and what isn’t obscene material. “I know it when I see it,” Justice Potter Stewart wrote, conceding that while he wouldn’t be able to intelligently define such material, he nonetheless was able to form an opinion on a case-by-case basis.

Similarly, the Merck executive and a legion of other corporate managers are now wrestling with the full import of the phrase “executive presence,” which has become a buzzword since I wrote the first edition of this book. Several other authors have attempted to define the term, with most centering their ideas on some mix of communication skill, appearance, and a set of extroverted behaviors. And while these are important components of executive presence, I believe the concept is more complex than that. I’ve worked with managers, emerging leaders, and executives for decades—both within organizational hierarchies and as an outside coach and leadership consultant—and the insights I’ve gained into the qualities integral to executive presence go far beyond speaking well, looking good, and acting with confidence.

Here are some other aspects of executive presence that I’ve discovered in the trenches: It’s about being in control of your emotions when you’re under stress. It’s about putting the people around you in a positive and productive state of mind. It’s about projecting the warmth and strength that foster trust and credibility. It’s about leaving absolutely no doubt about the value you contribute to others and your organization. It’s about knowing how to influence others for mutual gain. It’s about practicing excellent judgment in interpersonal and professional situations. It’s about actively monitoring and managing your reputation. And it’s about understanding how to build a powerful personal brand.

In this revised and updated edition of Executive Presence: The Art of Commanding Respect Like a CEO, I’ve provided detailed guidance for developing these and many other capabilities.

You’ll get the type of straightforward, pragmatic coaching advice I have shared for the past two decades with more than 60 Fortune 500 CEOs and thousands of senior leaders globally, both in intensive one-on-one executive coaching engagements and in leadership development workshops. These client organizations include GE, Deloitte, MetLife, PepsiCo, Chanel, General Motors, Walkers Shortbread, the U.S. Air Force, the Nature Conservancy, Water.Org, Hewlett-Packard, Hilton Worldwide, Cisco, Standard & Poor’s and Procter & Gamble, to name a few.

Of course, it isn’t just senior leaders who need guidance on conveying a consistent and formidable executive presence. In my work I also encounter many talented and hardworking high-potential managers who contribute solid value to their organizations, but somehow get stuck at a certain level while their (sometimes less talented and less hardworking) peers seem to snag the career-boosting assignments and high-powered sponsors. Enhancing the executive presence of the former, underappreciated group of executives often provides the leverage they need to get their careers moving again. More broadly, above a certain level of the corporate hierarchy, knowledge, expertise, brainpower, diligence, and credentials from the finest schools are not enough for continued career success. Those attributes simply earn you entry into a game where all the players are smart and have three letters after their name. In such rarefied fields, it is, again, executive presence that can make all the difference.

In fact, over the last few years, a series of surveys has highlighted just how crucial executive presence is to both successful leadership and career advancement.

For example, in a paper published by Gavin R. Dagley and Cadeyrn J. Gaskin in Consulting Psychology Journal, the American Psychological Association cited research, finding that 89 percent of nearly 400 senior executives and professional development managers credited executive presence with helping people get ahead at work. Nearly 80 percent said that limited executive presence could hold people back.

The authors of the APA paper also conducted their own study, surveying professionals who’d been exposed to vast numbers of executives and who were in part responsible for those executives’ development and advancement. The most interesting findings were the distinctions that these experienced professionals made between executive presence characteristics deemed most important in initial encounters and those that weigh more heavily over time. The five characteristics that signaled strong executive presence in initial encounters included status and reputation, physical appearance, projected confidence, communication ability, and engagement skills. The five traits found to be more important over time were interpersonal integrity, values-in-action, intellect and expertise, the ability to deliver outcomes, and the willingness to use coercive power when appropriate.

The Center for Talent Innovation, a nonprofit think tank, surveyed 268 senior executives at large corporations on executive presence, and a majority of them cited gravitas as one of its core characteristics, a characteristic that particularly helps people climb the organizational ladder. (Among other things, gravitas was defined in the survey as remaining confident and calm under pressure, acting decisively, displaying integrity and courage, and demonstrating emotional intelligence.)

What is clear from these and other studies is that executive presence isn’t simply one characteristic that you’re either blessed with or lack in spades. It’s rather a mix of mindset, skills, and behaviors that you can learn, acquire, and hone and then wield to boost your impact beyond any formal authority you may have. What is also clear is that executive presence is something that is perceived by others—not determined by you. This means that, to sway and manage the all-important perceptions of others, you must gain strategic self-awareness of the competencies and characteristics you need to develop for a potent executive presence, and then you need to engage in constant self-monitoring of those skills and traits.

This revised and updated edition of Executive Presence features several brand-new chapters. For instance, in the new Chapter 2, you will find tools to help you detect any blind spots and unhelpful behaviors that impair your executive presence. In Chapter 3, we will explore various emotion-regulation strategies, backed by the latest findings in neuroscience, to help you stay calm and composed in any high-pressure situation. And in Chapter 10, you’ll learn how strengths that normally bolster executive presence can become liabilities in high-pressure situations—when self-confidence morphs into arrogance, for instance—and how to rein in those runaway qualities.

Besides the wholly new material, each of the original chapters has been substantially updated and revised, with fresh examples, new research, and revealing insights from coaching sessions with leaders who needed to improve their executive presence or risk diminishing their effectiveness or even derailing their careers.

For instance, you’ll learn about the CEO of a social media firm who had a reputation as a “people pleaser” and who needed to develop his ability to hold people accountable to regain the confidence of his board and enterprise leadership team. You’ll learn about a director at a global consumer goods company who needed to overhaul the laid-back, somewhat passive style that led senior executives to doubt his readiness for a global leadership role. You’ll explore why a VP of technology at a health insurance firm had to change certain behaviors that led to complaints from peers and direct reports about his abrasive interpersonal style. And you’ll learn how an introverted senior manager discovered that she needed to overcome her reluctance to network both internally and externally in order to get on the radar of decision makers who could promote her to the C-suite.

In addition, I’ve packed this new volume with science-backed strategies and proven techniques that you can put into practice almost immediately to strengthen your executive presence. You’ll discover why low-status leaders are often ignored, but also how you can benefit from conveying low, medium, or high status, depending on the interpersonal context. You’ll appraise different methods to get buy-in from others for your ideas, as well as methods to motivate people to take action. In the updated chapter on strategic storytelling, you’ll explore the three types of story that every leader must master to successfully influence others, and you’ll assess which storytelling structures best match your specific objective—whether it is building trust and credibility, or inspiring others with a compelling vision, or sharing knowledge in a way that it “sticks.” And you’ll discover how best to build your personal brand—offline and online—with different strategies for generation X, gen Y (the millennials), and gen Z, which by itself made up 25 percent of the U.S. population as of 2015, according to Forbes magazine.

Over all, in order to land in the front ranks of your equally smart and ambitious colleagues, you must construct a compelling and authentic executive presence, with the enormous advantage that you can carry it with you everywhere. Yes, executive presence is a complex mix of ingredients, but our understanding of it has now matured to the point where you no longer need to guess at its essential components. My hope is that you feel inspired to study and master the ideas and strategies I’ve laid out in this revised and updated edition of Executive Presence: The Art of Commanding Respect Like a CEO, so that you can gain an important edge in your quest to become a leader in your chosen field.