Recently, I was working with a leader who was preparing for what is sure to be the most exciting chapter of his career. His company was still in the startup phase, but it had secured substantial investor support, and the plans for growth were ambitious. They would be bringing a new and innovative product to market, and hiring entire teams of employees. For the first time in his career, he would be leading an entire organization that was scaling rapidly.
As we talked about the opportunities ahead, he shared some advice he had been receiving from people around him: “This is your chance to be a commander.”
He paused after saying it, as if the words sounded uncomfortable in his mouth. I asked him what he thought that meant.
His answer was something along the lines of, “I think people expect me to be more forceful. To show my authority.”
The conversation stayed with me because it highlights a common interpretation of executive presence. Many people assume that showing command means acting like the boss – speaking louder than everyone else, making all the decisions, and taking control of every conversation.
But anyone can be bossy. Executive presence is more than that.
At its core, executive presence is the ability to inspire others to have confidence and trust in your abilities. It is the sense that you know what you are talking about, understand where you are going, and can help others get there with you.
In my experience, that confidence and trust are built through three forms of command.
1. Command of Your Subject Matter
The first form of command has nothing to do with your title, it comes from knowing your subject matter.
Build your credibility. People are more likely to trust leaders who demonstrate a deep understanding of the topics they are discussing. These leaders draw on their knowledge and experience as a unique but valuable point of reference, but they also use that expertise to interpret the new information that they are learning, and to constantly add to their knowledge.
Lose the notes and trust your expertise. Once developed, your expertise is to be shared in ways that convey credibility. This means avoiding some common mistakes leaders make. In delivering a presentation, many leaders become overly dependent on notes, scripts, or presentation slides. Their notes become a safety blanket, and their PowerPoint becomes a crutch. And this becomes a problem when the audience senses the leader’s over-reliance on this additional help, and starts to question the leader’s cred. When a leader truly knows their material, the technology is simply an optional enhancement. If the projector fails and the slides disappear, the leader is unfazed. The leader knows the key points so thoroughly that the conversation continues, and the message remains.
Rely on the credibility of others. Having command of your subject matter does not mean that you need to know everything. In fact, some of the most credible leaders I have worked with are quick to acknowledge where their expertise ends and where they need the insight of others. This means that you begin with understanding your areas of expertise and being honest about the areas where you rely on your team.
2. Command of Attention
The second form of command is about how you deliver your message. You can have the greatest idea imaginable, but it won’t get through if people are not listening to you.
Commanding attention does not require charisma, or being the loudest person in the room. It simply requires intentional communication.
Start by giving your audience something to connect to. The leaders who capture attention typically begin by creating a connection. They open with a personal story, or by asking a thought-provoking question. They describe a challenge that everyone in the room can recognize. In other words, they give people a reason to care, a reason to pay attention.
Tell a story that gives your data meaning. Another mistake I often see is an overreliance on facts, figures, and citations in making a point. It’s true that data matters, but a well thought out narrative can be more persuasive. People do not simply want information; they want help understanding what the information means. A story draws the audience in on a human level, and helps them make sense of the data. Remember, the facts and figures are not your message; effective executives use data to support the story they are telling. They help others see the significance behind the numbers rather than overwhelming them with evidence. Your audience is not asking, “How many sources can you cite?” They are asking, “How can your information make sense of a problem and help us move forward?”
Get to the point, and maintain a steady cadence. Commanding leaders understand that less is more. It’s true that many leaders believe they need to prove their expertise by saying more. They rush through their delivery and cram as much information as possible into a short amount of time. In so doing, they fail to see that this kind of showing off actually works against them. Their nervous delivery makes them appear insecure, and damages their credibility.
A concise message is easier to remember than a complicated one, and a clear point is more powerful than ten supporting points.
And with less to say, the leader can keep a calm and steady cadence. They use pauses and silence to create anticipation, and give people time to process what they have heard. This style of delivery sends the message: this leader is comfortable enough not to rush. Executive presence is not about filling every moment with words; it is about making every word count.
3. Command of Direction
The third form of command goes beyond communication skills; it reflects a way of being.
People look to executives for direction during uncertainty. That does not mean executives have all the answers, but it does mean they demonstrate some key qualities in the face of ambiguity that serve them in moving forward.
Have a clear vision of what is important. One of the things that differentiates executives is their focus on the future. No executive can control all the details in any initiative; it is important for them to delegate authority to their teams. But what these leaders provide is perhaps more important – a vision for the future that clarifies the team’s priorities. An emphasis not on how the work will get done, but on why the work is important, and what they will create for customers, employees, and each other.
Show confidence in yourself and others. Confidence matters because people are more willing to follow leaders who believe in themselves, the team, and the direction they are pursuing. Oftentimes, leaders ask employees to do things that can appear impossible at first glance. They set daunting goals – aggressive sales targets, challenging project deadlines, or austere cost cutting measures – and then make the mistake of leaving employees feeling like it’s up to them to figure out how to make it all work. A leader with command of direction expresses confidence that the goals are achievable, and shows a willingness to help the team make sense of the situation and figure it out the details as the work proceeds.
Leaders will inevitably experience doubt. The challenge is in allowing that doubt to dominate their communication. When uncertainty becomes the primary message, credibility erodes.
Stop overanalyzing and show decisiveness. Time is of the essence in business, and a leader with command of direction is able to make decisions with incomplete information. One rule of thumb we have used in many leader meetings is the adage “80% and go,” which means that if all the leaders present support an idea at a level of 80% or higher, then they are good to take action on that idea. In other words, we recognize that waiting for leaders to analyze the ideas and achieve 100% certainty about them creates a bottleneck of delayed approvals that stalls progress and puts the organization at a competitive disadvantage.
It’s okay for the direction to be imperfect. It is far more important to have clearly established priorities and decisive action than to have a perfect plan. Plans inevitably change, and leaders need to be comfortable with ambiguity and regular, incremental course corrections along the way. They have the ability to say, “Based on what we know today, this is the direction we should take.”
The Real Meaning of “Being a Commander”
When I think back to the leader I mentioned, preparing for rapid growth, I do not think he needed to become more “commanding” in the traditional sense; he did not need to become louder, or more intimidating. What he needed was command of his subject matter, command of people’s attention, and command of the organization’s direction. Those qualities inspire confidence and trust far more effectively than authority alone. And that, ultimately, is what executive presence is about.
Many leadership development programs focus on communication techniques, presentation skills, and executive polish. Those skills matter, but they are only part of the equation.
If you are responsible for developing future executives in your organization, consider whether you are helping them build all three forms of command: subject matter, attention, and direction. The leaders who master these capabilities are more likely to earn trust, influence decisions, and inspire confidence when the stakes are high.