5 Tips to Increase Leadership Presence

Tips to Increase Your Leadership Presence
By Carol Kinsey-Goman
Leadership presence, is that hard to define, but “we know it when we see it” quality. It is a blending of personal and interpersonal skills that when combined, send all the right signals. It’s how we show up, how we make others feel, and how effectively we communicate both verbally and nonverbally. It's that illusive factor that sets you up for the next promotion and gives your career that extra boost.
But here is what leadership presence is not:
• It is not an attribute that is automatically assigned to you because of your business results.
• It is not necessarily reflective of your true talents, qualities, and potential.
Instead, leadership presence depends entirely on how other people evaluate you. So it’s all about impression management. As one savvy executive told me: “You need to show up each day the way you want to be perceived–which is simple to say, but difficult to accomplish unless you do your homework and really know yourself.”
That’s why leadership presence needs to be rooted in your character–in those traits and values that define you–and the “homework” of truly knowing yourself is a crucial place to start.
But if the foundation for leadership presence is Character, the five qualities that demonstrate it are Confidence, Credibility, Composure, Connection, and Charisma.
Confidence is the personality trait most responsible for an individual being seen as having leadership presence. Confident people attract followers by appearing to be assured, self-motivated, and willing to take risks.
Many strategies help you display more confidence, but one simple tip is to change your physical posture: Stand straight, keep your head up and pull your shoulders back. When you slump, you condense your body, making you look smaller, more submissive, and less sure of yourself. As you expand your posture (even for just 2 minutes) holding a “Superman” or “Wonder Woman” pose, you actually change your blood chemistry. Your testosterone level (that’s the power hormone) increases and your cortisol level (a stress hormone) goes down. So not only do you look more confident, you feel that way too.
Of course, you wouldn’t want to assume the Wonder Woman pose during a meeting, but doing so in private just before a meeting would ensure that you enter the room looking your confident best.
Credibility is all about how you communicate. It’s about being truthful, diplomatic, empathetic, succinct, and decisive. But certain words and phrases have an almost magical power to instantly increase your credibility. The word “because” is one of them.
A study at Harvard, asked people to break into a line of strangers waiting to make photocopies. When research subjects asked simply if they could use the photocopier (“Excuse me, I have to make 5 copies, may I use the machine?”), they were successful 60% of the time. However, when they added the word because to their request (“May I use the photocopier because I have to make 5 copies), they gained instant credibility, and their success skyrocketed to 94%.
Composure is keeping your poise under pressure. It’s remaining calm in difficult situations and thinking effectively on your feet.
One of the things that can throw you off your game might surprise you. It’s the snap judgments you make about other people’s expressions. A negative expression from the person you’re dealing with can trigger all sorts of unwanted reactions, including anxiety, self-doubt, and insecurity.
It’s helped me to realize that most of the time, what I’m seeing is more about them (and their state of mind for a variety of reasons) than it is about me. So try this trick the next time you are greeted with a less-than-welcoming expression: Just say to yourself, “It’s not about me!” You’ll be surprised at how this small phrase can help you maintain your composure.
Connection is measured by how well you relate to others. It’s well known that people won’t always remember what you say, but they’ll never forget how you make them feel. And how you make others feel has a lot to do with your body language. The body language of connection is warm and inclusive. Nonverbal tips to connection include giving people your full attention (so no checking your texts while others are talking), facing people directly, using positive eye contact (that’s looking at the person you are dealing with about 60% of time), smiling, nodding, mirroring the other person’s expressions, gesture, and postures, using open postures in which legs are uncrossed, arms are relaxed, and gesturing with palms exposed (that's the universal “I have nothing to hide” gesture).
Charisma is all about your power to attract others. There are no tips that will increase your charm or appeal other than realizing you are the most charismatic when you have a deep belief in your own talents and uniqueness and when you are genuinely passionate about the topic you’re discussing.
Confidence, credibility, composure, connection, and charisma are all key elements of leadership presence. But remember, the foundation is character–and the goal is to align people’s impression of you with your best authentic self.