The Art of Leadership Presence: Mastering The How’s and What’s
All of us would have come across “the one” who carries charisma, grace, and a dollop of gravitas as they enter into a space.
Be it a conference, a seminar, a board meeting, or even a casual get-to-gether, our eyes, subconsciously land on them. They are a walking magnet attracting tons of attention wherever they go, their presence exudes power and charm.
While you are mentally working up the permutations and combinations to arrive at “what’s so special about them?”, take a pause for a couple of minutes and have a look at what we, from Lean In Newtork Bangalore, have to offer.
Vandana Balakrishna, a leadership coach, a facilitator with Navgati, and the CEO of MarketBoats- a global, technology-driven marketing solutions firm, ran a session for us at Lean In Network Bangalore. We brainstormed on how to ace leadership presence and grab our spotlights. Here are the key takeaways from the session:
- There is no hard and fast rule for Leadership presence — Read your room and adjust accordingly.
Many a time, we would have been hardwired to the thought of sticking to a playbook for any given situation. This could probably stem from the very fact that one has been conditioned to follow a set of rules or steps in solving a challenge.
Let us have a look at a few examples from the workshop to understand the what and how of acting according to the situation.
A. You are in a meeting with your stakeholders where you had helped in putting together the deck for the pitch, and your co-worker out of the blue puts you in the spot in briefing the pitch- something that you hadn’t signed up for in the first place
In this case, the very natural response could be to get furious at the co-worker and choose to pass over the chance saying that you haven’t prepared.
On the other hand, one could dodge the ball back to the court of the person who had initiated this — Gracefully without getting upset.
The winning response, in the situation shared by Vandana, was to politely register the fact that you hadn’t signed up for this offer and to start with the presentation and pull in the other to elaborate on the deck thereby creating a positive impression of yourself.
B. You lead a team where one of the members often tries to put down another’s work and steal the limelight. Additionally, the one who pulls off to be confident seems to have little or no knowledge of the subject being dealt with often making it difficult for the team to work as a unit.
As a TL(Team Leader), one would have aimed to correct the latter either during the discussion/ post the discussion depending on the frame of mind of the person and the team as a whole to bring in harmony.
Instead what the TL did here was totally unexpected and set up a way for a whole new culture of being aware, accepted, and tolerant of the imperfect self one may be.
Once the TL’s turn came to summarize the discussion, she had missed out on a point and had apologized to the team, and concluded that this could be worked upon and brainstormed in the subsequent meetings.
Ironically, this struck a chord with the person who seemed to be a bully in the team to change his approach and started accepting the flaws/ ignorant self that he was and promoted coordination in the team.
These are two very different scenarios demanding various approaches. In the former case Confidence, poise and composure are the dominant qualities of the leader however, with the latter, it is humility, trustworthiness, openness, and collaborative mindset that create a deep sense of respect for the person among the teammates.
Hence one has to keep in mind that “Created problems require creative solutions”
2. Be Unapolegtically yourself
Often we try to fit into a bubble of what the world has described as Leadership presence. It may not be necessary that one has to be the loudest / the most well-dressed person in the room to be taken notice of.
Communication and attire certainly have an impact on the audience you are presenting to however, what has a greater effect on the audience would be the core values/ propositions/ ideas that you would want to cascade/ the bigger picture/the vision that you have and are fundamentally operating for.
Here is a set of examples where renowned world leaders have shown this quality.
1. Luvvie Ajayi — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QijH4UAqGD8
2. Leila Hoteit — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b28brIs1OmM&t=3s
In the former Video, one could find that the speaker is owning up to the content she delivers, has dressed boldly, and has a neutral facial expression but uses other bodily gestures and a bit of humor to tone down the controversial facts presented. However, in the latter, the speaker conveys her message through specific facial expressions, has a dainty and feminine touch to her attire, is calm and composed, and doesn’t downplay.
Hence, Being yourself is the key to grabbing attention and leading your way through challenging situations.
3. Back up your discussion with facts and figures with a tinge of humor
Although one may be an expert in their field, when it comes to presiding discussions, one has to be able to clearly articulate the facts to the other members especially, in discussions where the results of research/ survey is in contradiction with the majority.
In order to put forth the obvious yet unpopular opinion among the group, storytelling with data, and humor go hand in hand specifically where one has to soften the blow.
Presented below is one such snippet, where a notorious member of a discussion, is trying to provoke an argument with a very renowned orator and politician known for his eccentric use of the English language.
Shashi Tharoor -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaNotcGak3Y
The spokesperson however responds calmly by backing up his argument with data, story, and a dash of sarcasm. When we start to put forth our point with a story, it not only keeps the audience engaged but also allows us time to articulate through our thoughts. Hence, remember the DISH rule (Data Interpretation, Story, and Humor) while crafting your speech.
4. Being Grounded and Vulnerable
Being grounded in one’s core values takes a lot of determination and effort on one’s side as it can get quite demanding at times. Being vulnerable is similar to walking on a thin rope whose control is many a time with the person whom we choose to be vulnerable with.
Vulnerability at the workplace has often been sidelined until recent years mainly owing to the fact that putting one’s guard down may identify as a weakness. With leaders across the world setting standards by choosing to be vulnerable, organizations are slowly adapting to accommodate vulnerability in the culture.
Choosing to be vulnerable is a key trait of a strong leader as it emphasizes the fact that one is aware of his/herself and is embracing her insecurities/ doubts/ imperfections as they are thus promoting a sense of safety and room of opportunity for growth rather than viewing it as a threat/ weakness.
Below is one such video where one of the iconic businesswomen of the world is showing her vulnerable side, being open about the tradeoffs she had to make to reach the top and the guilt associated with it.
Indra Nooyi — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUfVvF_019Q
However, there is always this floating question on vulnerability, “how much is too much”. In order to set boundaries while being vulnerable, refer to the below article by the renowned American professor and author who has been studying courage, shame, and vulnerability for over a decade now.
https://youtu.be/uXVhDSBiZCI?si=b8bAtjTOnC8Yp1XR
To sum it up, Leadership presence could be best described by these two models
- PRES Model by Kathy Lubar and Belle Linda Halpern
- EP model by Sylvia Ann Hewlett
The session was interactive, but more importantly, it was filled with real-time examples one could come across and relate to on a day-to-day basis. We’ve spilled the beans on the secret sauce to become “the one” in the room.
If you need someone to hold your hand through these, reach out to our lean in Bangalore sisterhoods (we thrive on WhatsApp, email us for details), or even better, get a coach (we run a pro-bono coaching program for our community 3 times a year).
Additional resources we recommend to level up your league in leadership presence:
1. Executive Presence: The Missing Link Between Merit and Success — Sylvia Ann Hewlett
2. Leadership Presence by Belle Linda Halpern and Kathy Lubar
3. Own the Room: Discover Your Signature Voice to Master Your Leadership Presence — Muriel Wikins and Amy Jen Su
