Do Not Forget The OTHER Executive Presence

What if executive presence is less about fitting a mold and more about how leaders truly show up? In this episode, host Russel Lolacher challenges the traditional view and offers fresh insights on crafting a meaningful and impactful executive presence.

Executive presence is always seen as whether staff fit the mold of their C-Suite, when it also could mean something as equally important - how executive shows up and is thought of within the organization. 
Russel shares real world suggestions we should consider if we want our executive to have an impactful and meaningful presence in their organization. 

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Transcript

Welcome back to Relationships At Work – Your guide to building workplace connections and avoiding leadership blind spots..  I’m your host Russel Lolacher

I’m a communications and leadership nerd with a couple of decades of experience and a heap of curiosity on how we can make the workplace better. If you’re a leader trying to understand and improve your impact on work culture and the employee experience, you’re in the right place.

This mini-episode is a quick and valuable bit of information to get your ready for the week ahead. 

Inspired by our R@W Note Newsletter, I’m passing on to you… 

Do Not Forget The Other Executive Presence

We hear the term "executive presence" a lot, especially when it comes to an employee trying to move up the corporate ladder (or monkey bars). 

It’s defined as “a blend of traits, behaviors, and skills that project a leader's capability to succeed at the highest organizational levels.” I’m not sure I love that definition. That was the first one I pulled. How about MIT
“Executive presence is the combination of personality and character traits that make a dynamic executive. It’s the ability to inspire others to be assertive in their roles through the consistent demonstration of confidence and clear leadership.”

Still kinda misses the mark. This is how I’ve come to understand executive presence. “Do you know how to communicate and show up in a way that the executive prefers so you can demonstrate your corporate value, get buy-in for new ideas and try to hopefully get more future authority/opportunity/money from those with the power to grant it.”  Basically, are you one of us?

I’m not faulting the definitions but I think they miss some context that would come from defining “success” and “leadership” which are different depending on the organization and how “assertive” feels archaic in a DEI world…   

The funny thing is that none of this is what I thought it meant when I first heard the term “executive presence”. And I think my incorrect assumption is actually just as, if not more, valuable if we as leaders really want to prioritize connection and culture. 
 
 What if "Executive Presence" also meant, 'how executives show up in the workplace for employees, the effort they take to connect with teams and how those team’s perceive them?”

What if it was about their presence, not ours?

I once had an executive ask me what they could do to better understand their culture when the only employees they talked to where their administrative staff? Leave your office! Go say hi to someone who isn't your staff or a fellow executive! Be proactive rather than hide in your office and wonder why the world doesn't come to you.

Their presence was non-existent to their Teams. 

Executive have such an opportunity to inspire and motivate their teams but too often hide behind the "too busy" or "no talks to me" excuses to really make an impact. We as leaders know we can do better than that. 

So come with me for a few ideas on how to have the OTHER executive presence:

·       Walk a floor in the organization that isn't the one our office is on.

·       Have a conversation with a team member at their desk who doesn't report to us and is on a different level than us in an org chart. Bonus points if the chat doesn't only include work.

·       Send regular corporate-wide emails that have our tone and personality rather than obviously written by someone else.

·       Send messages to business areas to wish them a great weekend. And answer them if they respond. 

·       Take opportunities to connect with staff off-site and let them lead the conversation. If they're not comfortable with that, because some people aren’t, be curious about them. Ask questions.

·       Use more than one channel of communication to connect with employees - video, town halls, internal podcasts, Zoom Meetings, emails, etc. to demonstrate we understand different people like to communicate differently.

·       Enjoy engaging with people. Look at it as a privilege rather than transactional and clock-watching. 

·       Be the face of survey results, don’t avoid feedback you don’t like or don’t agree with, and own the steps the organization will take to address concerns.

An executive with no genuine, human presence in their organization can lead employees to feel a sense of detachment – from their leader, the organization and from the vision, mission and values. Executives are the embodiment of those intentions. 

If employees don't feel a connection or relatability to the human behind it, how can they feel a part of any of it or motivated by it?

Executive presence can’t just be about how possible executives could fit the C-Suite mold, it also has to be about how established executives show up and connect with those they're responsible for. 

Let's take both types of executive presence more seriously.