What makes a truly inspiring leader?
Is it charisma? Confidence? Integrity? Authenticity? The ability to engage and motivate?
What is Leadership Presence?
While it can be difficult to define, we have identified 5 traits that will help you project Leadership Presence:
- Be Present. At one level, being present means showing up. At the next level, it means mental presence: being calm, focused, and in control of your emotions—regardless of what’s going on around you.
- Be Connected. Leaders are collaborators, influencers, and team builders. Connection is about building relationships within your team and throughout your organization.
- Be Expressive. Interpersonal communication skills are critical! If you project confidence (but not arrogance), if you look and sound like a leader, people will see you as a leader.
- Be Organizationally Savvy. Understanding your corporate culture, your role within it, and how your department fits into the company’s overall strategy is all part of organizational savvy.
- Be Inspirational. Being inspirational involves building trust, being transparent, showing enthusiasm, sharing your values, and sharing your vision.
How to Increase Your Leadership Presence
Be Present
Too often, we are so busy working that we don’t take the time to attend team events or go to lunch with colleagues. To show leadership presence, we need to show up. We also face constant internal and external distractions that keep us from being mentally present. Here are 3 techniques to help you overcome distractions so that you can be present and focused:
- Stop multi-tasking.
- Take a few seconds to breathe before joining your next meeting.
- Notice any negative self-talk that stops you from being present, and then refocus on the present.
Be Connected
One way to connect is by being an empathetic listener. When someone expresses a problem or frustration: acknowledge their feelings, validate their concerns, and ask clarifying questions. Don’t argue or debate the issue. You may also share a personal experience that lets the person know you understand. Connecting involves a genuine interest in people, personally and professionally. Ask questions and pay attention to what people say. When you show interest, it’s amazing how quickly others will open up.
Be Expressive
The way we express ourselves comes through in how we look, how we sound, and the words we use.
- Verbal Expression: Use language that is clear, direct, and concise. Avoid “hedging language” like: I guess; I hope; I think. These words rob you of power. Only use them intentionally and sparingly.
- Vocal Expression: Project confidence in your tone of voice. Avoid trailing off or allowing your pitch to rise at the end of a thought. Both of these habits can convey doubt about what you are saying.
- Visual Expression: Body language can also speak volumes. A straight posture will project confidence, while leaning forward will express interest. Consider whether your facial expressions are consistent with your words. Finally, make appropriate eye contact (be careful not to stare or shift your eyes around too quickly).
Be Organizationally Savvy
Consider working on these 3 areas to increase your organizational savvy:
- Take on projects that extend you beyond your current role, while giving you widespread visibility.
- Work and communicate with an eye on long-term success—for yourself and the company.
- Do your job in such a way that you achieve success not only for yourself, but also for your manager and even those further up. Then be prepared to inform the people above you, so that they know whom to thank!
Be Inspirational
Here are two questions you should consider to determine if you are ready to inspire others:
- Are you committed to the team and the larger organization?
- Does this cause reflect your core values?
The ability to inspire others often comes from communicating your values. Spend a few minutes thinking about your own values. One way to inspire others is to communicate your values through storytelling. What are the stories that you can share that will help people know what drives you and how it relates to the team’s mission?
Who has Leadership Presence?
Pick two people who have (or had) strong leadership presence. Then, identify how they exhibited it in each of the areas we covered. For example, how did they demonstrate empathy? How did they inspire and use stories to inspire? You might be surprised to realize that these leaders embodied most, if not all, of these leadership presence traits.
Leadership presence comes easier to some than others, but everyone can develop their leadership presence. Of the five traits described, identify those which you most exemplify and keep doing them! Then considering working on 1-2 traits that most need your attention.
Does your team need to enhance their Leadership Presence? Check out BRODY’s Leadership Presence Training.