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Key Takeaways Part of being a great leader requires being a clear speaker. Outline your points, slow down your pace and pause between sentences — it makes you sound more confident and gives your audience time to process your words.
Great leadership also requires confidence in yourself and your abilities. Reflect on where your confidence is on a 10-point scale, then consider steps to improve.
Practicing authenticity sounds silly, but it’s a necessary component of great leadership, too. For example, take note of the times you hold back in a conversation or the times you might overshare to compensate, and work to address those issues.
Executive presence was all the rage for years. As an executive coach, I’ve lost track of the number of books I’ve read and TED Talks I’ve watched that promised to help you quickly gain trust and credibility. The senior executives I work with often reach out wanting to boost their gravitas as they move into senior leadership. On the surface, their goals — greater confidence, sharper communication and stronger influence — seem perfectly aligned with the idea of executive presence.
Yet many of my clients are LGBTQ+, BIPOC and members of other historically oppressed groups. As we dive into the assumptions and limits of executive presence, they see that the idea is rooted in outdated notions of professionalism that often clash with their authentic selves. Through this process, they realize their intentions go far beyond executive presence. What they truly want is clarity, confidence, authenticity and, ultimately, to be recognized as a legitimate authority.
Developing these leadership qualities can be quite difficult, and mastering them even more so. Here are four questions to ask yourself if you want to become a stronger communicator, more confident and authentic, and a leader sought out for your expertise.
How clear are you?
Great leadership begins with clarity. Start by defining exactly what you mean when you say executive presence. Maybe your goal is to be more “confident,” “concise,” “persuasive,” “influential” or “results-driven.” Get specific, and let those words guide your actions instead of the ambiguous, catch-all idea of executive presence.
Part of clarity also requires being a clear speaker. Outline your main points before you speak. Slow down your pace if you tend to talk quickly. Take a pause between sentences. These qualities not only demonstrate confidence, but they also allow your audience to truly absorb what you’re saying.
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