When I think of leadership presence, I always remember Joanne, a managing director at a large private bank. Here’s her story …
This private bank brought in 15 top Ivy League college graduates that they’d carefully recruited for an intensive six-week training/onboarding program over the summer.
I was booked to deliver a presentation skills training session about five and a half weeks into this program. I was also scheduled to join the 15 participants for dinner before the training, so I got there early and sat down in their windowless training room. The first thing I noticed was that there was NO energy in the room. None. People looked exhausted, dazed, and confused. I overheard the trainee sitting next to me whisper: “Only 45 minutes left till dinner!”
Then, the program leader said, “I know we said dinner is at 5:30, but Joanne, our rock star managing director, can speak to us today, so we’re pushing it back an hour.”
Her enthusiasm did not translate to anyone else in the group. It was clear on their faces: “Oh my God, not another hour of this.”
I knew that Joanne had a real challenge on her hands.
Joanne walked in with complete poise and confidence. Joanne greeted each of the 15 new graduates by name, using direct eye contact (she was part of the panel interviews when they were initially selected, so she had met them before). She clearly had either remembered each person or had reviewed their records before arriving.
“Tom, how was graduation from Berkeley? This is a big move from California isn’t it; have you found an apartment yet?”
Joanne took five or six minutes to shake hands and connect with every person in the program. Next, she blanked out the slides and said, “I’m going to tell you a story.”
And she had them, right there. Everyone was riveted and ready for her next words. She converted these 15 bored and exhausted participants into an engaged and energetic group. Even more importantly, Joanne’s clear leadership presence helped change their perceptions of the company that they had decided to join. During dinner that night, I listened to the group’s reactions:
- “I’d been wondering if this was the right job for me, but just I texted my mom and told her I think it is.”
- “I feel different since Joanne spoke. I feel excited about what they are doing; I loved what Joanne said about the company’s mission.”
- “I feel much more welcome. She changed my mind.”
In all of my years of training and coaching, I’ve never seen anyone transform the energy in the room in such a short amount of time. Talk about an outstanding example of leadership presence!
Leadership presence is the whole package. It’s about connecting with people, being prepared, being able to take the temperature of an audience and react with real emotional intelligence to give them what they need.
Here are three things that Joanne did right that you can emulate the next time you need to connect with an audience:
- She thought ahead, and was strategic. When Joanne walked into the room, she connected gracefully and graciously, welcoming each person with something relevant to their world.
- She was prepared to share a story and also to hear theirs, so her presentation wasn’t rote or dry. Stories are fundamental to human communication. They’re an amazing aid to message retention and inspire action.
- She seemed invested in the trainees’ potential, effectively conveying that the firm was excited to have them on board.
Does your leadership team have leadership presence? Learn more about how BRODY develops Leadership Presence though training and coaching.