The A-B-C’s of Executive Presence

Years ago, I had the opportunity to listen to the hall of fame basketball Coach Pat Summitt speak at an HR leadership conference in Tennessee. When she walked on stage, her energy filled the room. The crowd was on the edge of their seats, fully engaged, and walked away with a sense of newfound purpose. I can only imagine the passion and energy she passed on to her players on the court.

We all know someone like this. They walk into a room, command attention and inspire us. Some people are just born with this ability; others have to nurture it. I’m talking about presence – our unique blend of personal and interpersonal skills and behaviors that influence others. As an executive, the presence you project can make or break your ability to inspire your organization and garner respect from fellow leaders. According to a survey in Forbes, having a strong executive presence accounted for 26% of the reason why someone is chosen for a promotion over their peers. In short, executive presence is a powerful thing.

Now that you’ve earned a seat at the leadership table, how would rate your executive presence? What makes your presence impactful? Inspirational? Where do you need to improve? Just like learning the alphabet in grade school was fundamental to your education, honing in on the foundations of executive presence is a combination of another type of A-B-C’s:

• Appearance. You’re a leader…dress like a one. But what does that really mean? We often get the vision of a person is a stiff, formal black suit behind a desk. That may not fit your culture and could backfire on how approachable your image appears. Take it from Mark Zuckerberg or Sheldon Yellen – your appearance should match the culture you want to create. What do you want your outward image to say about you? The way we dress makes a first impression, often before we even open our mouths.

• Behavior. All great leaders know you must exude confidence  (not to be confused with arrogance). But there is a balance. Learning to own the room without steamrolling others is a critical element to a having a successful executive presence.

• Communication. Great leaders are great communicators. This applies to in-person, phone, email, online – anywhere you are communicating with others. Communicate like a leader and people will follow you.

Keep in mind – maintaining your executive presence online is equally important in today’s transparent, oversharing social media world. A survey in Entrepreneur reported that 64% of employers have made employment decisions based on reviewing a person’s social media accounts. Fine-tuning your executive presence will help you lead like the leader you are destined to be.

The executive presence projected from your top leaders can reinforce or hurt your organization’s culture. Reach out to us at https://www.successfulculture.com/contact/. We love helping our clients build successful organizations – full of leaders ready to take on the challenges of tomorrow and inspire everyone along the way.

Making The First Hire: 4 Steps Business Owners Can Take to Manage New Hires Successfully

Entrepreneurs who have successfully launched a business will find themselves at a fork in the road.

In one direction, there is the option to stay at the solopreneur level. This is a great option for those who…

Should You Make The Hire? Should You Keep The Employee? Three Simple Litmus Tests

In my coaching and consulting work with CEOs, the most common challenge is finding the right people. One of my favorite tools to aid in this important decision is part of the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), created by Gino Wickman. Information Experts implemented EOS several years ago. I frequently reach back to my EOS toolbox when helping other CEOs move forward.

Whether you are an employee or an employer, chances are you have your share of nightmare stories about the fallout of hires that were not the right fit for a position, or the organizational culture.

9 Strategies to Avoid Business Partnership Purgatory

Partnerships are one of the most important – and messiest – parts of business. Right now, I am working with clients who:

1: Are building a great partnership

2: Are trying to get out of bad partnership

3: Have narrowly escaped a seemingly good partnership gone bad

In my own experience, I was the majority owner in a partnership at Information Experts (with my husband). With Successful Culture, I am contemplating bringing in a partner.

To grow beyond a solopreneurship, a business owner often needs to enlist the help of a partner. There are many reasons for this including:

Ten Questions to Ask to Determine if Your Customers and Employees Really Understand Your Company

Business owners live and breathe their company missions. Often, their business identity plays a significant role in their personal identity. Naturally, they can effortlessly explain what their company does, why it exists, what it stands for, and where it is going.

This is not often the case with employees or customers.

Here are two sets of questions to help you determine if your two most important stakeholder groups – your employees and your customers – really understand your company.

Strengthen the Body, Strengthen the Mind, Strengthen the Outcome

I’ve been a hard core fitness enthusiast ever since I was 15, when I saw Linda Hamilton in The Terminator. I learned then that physical strength is not only beautiful; it is also essential to feeling confident and capable in all aspects of your life.

Executing on a dream or vision to build a business is one of the most mentally challenging endeavors a person will ever pursue. Every day, we are faced with nonbelievers, seemingly insurmountable challenges, and 101 reasons to quit. But still we persevere.

Four Steps to Diffusing a Customer Disagreement

A client called me last week to coach her through a delicate situation with a customer. Her customer had entered into a legal agreement, and at the last minute, wanted to change the terms of the agreement without consent from the other party. This would have jeopardized the entire transaction. Furthermore, her customer insisted that she had told my client about her decision prior to signing the contract (which was not true). My client was on the hook to talk her customer out of a really bad decision, even though her mind was made up.

Four Easy Ways to Get Excited About Prospecting!

I coach a lot of small business CEOs with BIG visions. Visions of tremendous growth. Visions of huge impacts. Visions of organizations with amazing cultures. Visions of….delegating the prospecting to other people.

Four Steps to a Successful 360-Degree Hiring Process

A client asked me, “Marissa, should I involve my other employees in the interviewing process?” My answer was an enthusiastic YES. From the intern to the executive, the CEO should never unilaterally own a hiring decision.

4 Ways to Stretch Your Time & Money Through a Multi-Platform Marketing Strategy (And an Entrepreneur’s Super-Food)

The two scarcest resources that small businesses have are time and money. They lack the financial cushion and manpower that larger companies have to grow. At the same time, customers are overwhelmed with work & information, are time-starved, and have ADD. These three things get in the way of building trust, loyalty, and recurring revenues with customers.