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I’ve interpreted it as “act like you know you’re better than everyone, but you’re ok with it and want to make everyone feel included.” Seems to work
Calling BS to Manager 2... exec presence has nothing to do with sex or race. It’s an ability to command the room. If there’s any form of discrimination it’s age.. I’ve seen plenty of minority women command the room without any doubt from others.. exec presence = (confidence - arrogance) + charisma + inquisitiveness * intelligence.. (proof my formula)
Good response. Age can be an issue and the only thing where race/sex comes in is that some Asian women look younger than they are. Don’t complain so much though, this gives you lots of advantages in other aspects of life. Plus regardless of how young you look if you know your shit and can confidently communicate that without being abrasive you’ll nail the executive presence. There are so many ways to do this it can’t be summed up in txt. Consider professional coaching or asking for direct feedback right after meetings from partners.
I think it’s an area of improvement regardless of your race or gender. It’s about having the confidence and ability to present messages to your senior clients. Many people have to exercise this muscle.
Executive presence isn’t about being a large strong person with a booming voice. It’s about how you position yourself within a room/meeting, your tone, the energy and delivery of messages (well articulated, right level of detail etc.) It can also be about physical presence in terms of eye contact, body language.
Yes but if my performance at tasks are rated above and beyond but yet im asked to be build presence, i find it contradictory, as if being a large strong person with a booming voice is possibly what counts for executive
Agree with Director 2 and Principal 1 comments 100%. My point is that we shouldn’t judge her to be not receptive to feedback. She’s asking open ended questions and seeking perspectives - how do we know she’s already not seeking out to her coaches and mentors already?
Four simple factors that can help significantly:
- Be prepared. Have some idea of what you’re talking about. If you don’t feel prepared then you’ll likely come across as having low confidence.
- Be organized and succinct when you talk. Don’t blather or talk without a clear direction and purpose. The faster you can make your point, the better.
- Speak clearly. Talk just loud enough and slow enough that everyone in the room can hear and understand you.
- Control your body language. Don’t fidget oddly or make exaggerated expressions. Don’t smile or nod too much.
Nearly every single person I’ve known who lacked “executive presence” struggled with one or more of these points.
Executive presence in my experience is used when they cannot pin point anything wrong with your performance, but they have a hard time relating to someone different. It goes back to the idea that there is an “ideal” way to act instead of learning how to leverage the strengths and weaknesses of a diverse team. Normally the “executive presence” comment comes from a middle age guy that cannot leave home without his sports coat!!!
But just doing your tasks given well isn’t enough to be a leader in this industry or any other industry really. You can be the greatest analyst or associate in the world but that’s all you’ll ever be if you don’t master the soft skills that define “executive presence”
Is it easy? No. Have I mastered it? No. I’m an Asian male and honestly, it’s ingrained against a lot of asian culture to stand out. We’re taught to work hard, put our heads down, get the tasks given done well, and that’s success. But it’s not. To get to the next level, you have to show those around you that you belong there.
I am a manager not an associate so i do operate at a different level which is not only task related
Honestly screw that phrase altogether. Be yourself, be confident, do good work and just be a human. Clients are people too and yes we are there for a reason and act professional, but it doesn’t have to be as “kiss ass” as I’ve (personally) been told it as.
I was always told to smile more - this was important for me to realize because culturally in Eastern Europe where my family is from, smiling at someone isn’t a warm gesture. It means you are laughing at them
Executive presence is a legitimate area of development but can definitely be influenced by bias. Being able to influence a room, get others to agree to your ideas, control the topics of conversation, make others feel comfortable, etc. is a legitimate skill. I have seen people from all ages and races exude it. On the other hand, being able to demonstrate those qualities and having others respond positively is definitely influenced by the age, gender, race, deep ness of voice, and attractiveness of the person speaking.
Agreed
Agree
@OP “performance at tasks” is totally unrelated to executive presence. Executive presence is being in a meeting and having people naturally look at you as the authority. It’s being considered a peer to your client CxO. Etc., etc. Just a couple examples I was thinking of but maybe that paints a bit of a picture
I typed up a bunch of answers to this but it’s kind of hard to explain. Best recommendation I can make is that if you own a work stream, take all opportunities to run status update meetings / workshops, etc. Communicate your POV, build consensus among team and stakeholders, defend your POV with facts etc etc.
If you start a meeting with your POV, and go from there, vs someone asking you your POV are completely different things. First is more like executive presence, latter is more like SME.
...but don’t just run around yelling your POV. That’s why i think a meeting that you own is a good opportunity to demonstrate
I have a similar view. One aspect of it is being cognizant of how others perceive what you say and what you don’t say. I got negative feedback for letting a technical person answer a question instead of answering it myself. I had a mindset of “let the expert speak for their area of expertise” in a sort of servant leadership manner. The client was annoyed that I wasn’t commanding the room and felt I should know it well enough to be the spokesperson for the issue even if a SME knew the details. I now don’t take that to mean I should make shit up, but it means I should more often be visible as the one answering the questions or at least actively guiding the question to the right person.
Practice your delivery, choice of words, display of body language. Observe some of your favorite politicians or business person or maybe ppl in your group when they’re in action. I personally love how Obama commands his presence. You have to find your style but you can emulate a little of something from seeing more ppl in action. Above all - be yourself
Accenture 1 has captured it well. Keep in mind it’s always worth asking for specific, behavioral examples when you receive feedback like this. Executive presence means different things to people, as you see by these posts.
I just went through a training on executive presence, and I was the only brown guy there. The training was meant for everyone irrespective of their color, race or gender.
In essence it is how you project yourself and communicate your messages. Everything from how you stand, sit, speak, make eye contact, use your hands etc. affects both you and your audience , knowingly or unknowingly.
So yes, in a career like consulting where a majority of your job is persuading people, advising people specially as you become senior, executive presence becomes more and more important.
We were actually told that smiles are very important, not laughing and giggling all the time but almost a subconscious level smile, because that makes the person in front feel welcoming and opens them up.
Doesn’t mean dominance, but rather the ability to say something with conviction and project confidence in your ability.
If you are looking for brown role models look at Shashi Tharoor, very charming guy but he also backs it with strong command on language.
As far as brown women role models go, Indra Nooyi and Kiran mazumdar to name a few.
I realized it during my MBA days that this job isn’t just about doing the things right, which I thought as well (maybe because of Indian cultural upbringing), rather it is about convincing that why what you did is right.
Same race and gender as OP plus English as a second language