Communicate for Success
Oct 27, 2024Why is it difficult to keep growing as a leader without improving your executive presence?
This is how I like to explain it to my clients. Think of executive presence as the ability to inspire trust in your leadership. And executive presence encompasses both your outward persona and your inner essence.
Others pick up on your executive presence by observing your behavior. And your behavior includes your communication skills. How you communicate leaves an impression.
When clients come to me and say they want to improve their executive presence, I encourage them to start by focusing first on how they communicate:
• Adopt a warm, approachable tone of voice
• Speak at a high-level (for example, vision, strategy, profitability) and stay away from minutiae
• Share knowledge and insights with confidence
• Be an active listener
• Be curious and ask open-ended questions (who, what, where, when)
The reason this works in improving your executive presence is because communicating effectively builds empathy and trust. When others feel valued and understood, they are more likely to trust you as a leader.
As leadership expert John C. Maxwell once said, "Without trust, there can be no effective leadership."
If you enjoyed this article, you might like my video "How to Develop Gravitas"
Would you like to improve your executive presence? Please schedule a complimentary consultation here.
Stephanie HesslerĀ is an Executive Career and Leadership Coach who helps high-achieving leaders shift the mindset and self-image that drive their results, so they lead with greater skill, presence, and peace of mind. She has coached senior leaders for over twelve years. Before that, she spent sixteen years in corporate business, including on Wall Street, where she became a VP in investment banking by age 30. She earned her MBA at The Wharton School and her BA at Wellesley College..Ā
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