How Do You Stand out as a Leader?
It’s a joy for me to coach leaders who are keen to enhance their leadership skills. Usually, the leaders who approach me for help are ready, open, transparent, and receptive to feedback. These leaders are willing to learn and make micro-adjustments that can lead to a big impact on honing their leadership presence.
At the same time, there’s a hint of anxious anticipation. They are reconciling their feelings of uneasiness while taking small steps to experiment, make mistakes, and learn from their experience.
These brave souls know that it can get lonely at the top. Not many people will tell them the truths about themselves that they really need to hear to enhance their growth. Some challenges may include leading their peers, being new to the organization, or transitioning to a new management role.
These leaders are highly aware that all eyes are on them. As they move into more senior roles or aspire to obtain executive roles, many want to strengthen their leadership presence. Leadership presence is a common development area for leaders, but it’s not everyone’s development priority. Development areas are very personal and situational.
While leadership presence will mean something different to each person, generally it describes a leader with the following qualities:
Ability to gain credibility
Ability to command a room
Powerful influencing and persuasion skills
Communicate genuinely with clarity and confidence
Ability to be an active listener and read the situation and act accordingly
When it comes to leadership presence, my clients have reflected on how to navigate the following challenges:
How do I influence others in a positive and non-intimidating manner?
How do I command a room?
How do I speak-up at senior level meetings?
How do I make a connection with senior leaders (or an executive mentor)?
The Art of Interruption to Stand Out
My client Sam (not her/his real name), is a seasoned senior leader who wants to obtain a more senior leadership role. She needs to show executives in the company that she is “leadership material”. To do this, she frequently attended meetings on her manager’s behalf. This gave her exposure to executives who make decisions for leadership roles.
However, every time she attended senior-level meetings; she felt a mental block. She didn’t feel comfortable speaking-up and influencing others. She was unsure of how to engage during meetings, interrupt and contribute her valuable ideas.
She felt that she needed to be told it was her turn to speak before she could actually speak. Kind of like in school when your teacher says “if you have a question, raise your hand and wait your turn to speak”. She was always waiting for her turn. Who knows what kind of impact she could have made or opportunities she missed out on by holding back on sharing her thoughts!
In our sessions, my clients have discovered insights and different strategies that help them contribute to meetings with ease.
“I was invited to the meeting!” Know that your input is valuable.
“There is no batting order!” You don’t need to wait for permission to contribute.
Write down bullets to stay involved in the meeting.
Listen first and let others finish their statements before jumping in.
Ask open-ended questions to get clarity.
Get the attention of the person by using their first name.
Whether you’re a new or seasoned manager honing your leadership presence, there’s usually a balance of conforming to certain company standards, while staying true to yourself. There is always room for growth!
I encourage you to make space for reflection in your schedule to do the inner work and know yourself well. What are your values and strengths? What are your priorities? Knowing your level of self-awareness and how you impact others’ will influence your leadership presence.
ACTION: What does leadership presence mean to you? How can you be a leader without compromising who you are as a person? If you're interested to learn more about leadership presence feel free to connect!
Originally published at ExcelsiorToday.
Art 🎨 by @bare_monk on Instagram