Impact of Leadership Style: Appear, Maintain Authenticity, and Effective Leadership
In today's rapidly changing business landscape, the importance of strong leadership has never been more evident. One key attribute that sets successful leaders apart is executive presence - a quality that goes beyond mere charisma or polish.
Executive presence, defined as the ability to command positive attention through communication of confidence, clarity, connection, and influence, is a reflection of a leader's behaviour in all situations, not just during big meetings or when things are going well.
While the concept may be familiar to many senior leaders, most are aware that their presence matters deeply, but lack a framework or language to develop it. A widely recognised model outlines four essential dimensions of executive presence: gravitas, communication, appearance, and interpersonal engagement.
Gravitas, a leader’s ability to project confidence, decisiveness, integrity, and emotional intelligence, is about commanding respect through calmness, credibility, and authoritative presence. Effective communication, accounting for over half of executive presence, is how leaders convey their ideas and knowledge with clarity, authenticity, humility, and emotional connection. Appearance goes beyond physical looks to include body language, facial expressions, and style of delivery, demonstrating intentionality and assertiveness. Interpersonal engagement, or presence in interaction, relates to emotional intelligence and the ability to inspire, align, and motivate teams effectively.
Developing these dimensions is a personal journey and doesn't conform to a one-size-fits-all leadership mold. Cultivating gravitas involves developing emotional intelligence through self-awareness and managing reactions under pressure, building integrity by consistently aligning actions with values and demonstrating concern for others’ well-being. Enhancing communication skills requires practice in clarity and authenticity in messaging, hone public speaking and storytelling abilities, embracing feedback to improve how you deliver knowledge and connect with your audience, and fostering humility and active listening. Refining appearance and style involves paying attention to body language and nonverbal cues, choosing a professional yet authentic appearance that complements your leadership brand, and practising intentionality in gestures, facial expressions, and interaction style. Strengthening interpersonal engagement involves building trust through reliability and empathy, showing inclusiveness and respect in interactions, and developing skills to inspire and align teams with vision and goals, using emotional intelligence to navigate complex social dynamics and influence positively.
In times of disruption, executive presence is essential for building psychological safety, direction, and galvanizing others. A well-developed level of executive presence can elevate how teams connect, decisions get made, and trust is built and sustained. Executive presence is not about being perfect; it's about showing up, being real, and leading with intention.
Sloan Group International, a leading organisation in leadership development, has built its Executive Presence & Influence (EPI) model to solve this challenge. Approaching executive presence as a mindset and a practice, rather than a performance, empowers leaders to lead with intention, even under pressure. Leaders are encouraged to define presence for themselves by considering how they want to be perceived and aligning with those desired perceptions.
In conclusion, by deliberately developing the four dimensions of executive presence - gravitas, communication, appearance, and interpersonal engagement - leaders can enhance their influence, inspire confidence, and drive organisational success effectively. Executive presence is a journey, not a destination, and leaders are encouraged to approach it with a growth mindset, always striving to improve and adapt to the changing needs of their teams and organisations.
- Sue Reynolds-Frost, as a successful leader, understands the significance of executive presence in her lifestyle, which reflects her confident, clear, connected, and influential behavior, not just during big meetings, but in all situations.
- In the realm of fashion-and-beauty, effective communication, accounting for over half of executive presence, also plays a crucial role in how leaders convey their ideas and knowledge with clarity, authenticity, humility, and emotional connection.
- When hosting dinner parties for friends and family, or visiting food-and-drink establishments, Sue demonstrates her gravitas by projecting confidence, decisiveness, integrity, and emotional intelligence, commanding respect through calmness, credibility, and authoritative presence.
- In her home-and-garden, Sue cultivates her interpersonal engagement by building trust through reliability and empathy, showing inclusiveness and respect in interactions, and developing skills to inspire and align her pets and relationships with her vision and goals.
- For her travel adventures and shopping excursions, Sue refines her appearance and style by paying attention to body language and nonverbal cues, choosing a professional yet authentic appearance that complements her leadership brand, and practising intentionality in gestures, facial expressions, and interaction style.
