Executive Presence is not a Style Thing

This is about mindset. Stephen Pressfield in his eponymous book has a great metaphor that helps frame the mindset needed to make the executive leap: that of “Turning Pro.” Amateurs have amateur habits. Pros have pro habits. This is not actually about your ability but rather your mindset. You may be ranked 1000th in the world, but you’re still a “pro.”

This is an executives principal choice. Choose your executive teams very carefully. Why? Because you are no longer joining an organization as a “cog.“ You and the executive team are the organization. There are no excuses; there are no higher authorities. Your success will depend on them, and theirs on you.

You are no longer working in the system. You are the system. That means you have to own it as if it was yours. Work with your peers as if the systems depends upon it, because it literally does. If something’s not going well and you want to blame your peer execs or the CEO, then you’re not thinking about it the right way.

Communication is critical, and two critical aspects of communication are conciseness and illustration. The ability to communicate concisely is an executive hallmark and a developable skill. Master it and your communications will have an aura of flexibility and ease that most only ever aspire to.

You no longer are “reporting out” in your communications. You’re dealing with the future implications, choices and decisions and what others are expecting as it regards those. You communications should move from reporting to managing those future expectations. It is the only task of your communications, and it is a common failure mode in how new executives behave.. Fail to manage expectations and even your successes can seem like failures to your CEO and the executive team.

The executive team is there for their expertise. The team no longer waits for the CEO to make the decisions. More often than not the team will contribute and co-create the decisions. You can’t do that if you don’t have a point of view about what is needed. You may not have the whole picture, but you have to own the part you can see. The more you develop your point of view, the more you will reach advisor status among your peers and the CEO. Note also that a point of view is not an “opinion.”

Your point of view doesn’t matter if you can’t get others to consider it. And that takes more than explanation. You need to master persuasion in a way you haven’t learned yet. Bringing your expertise and incorporating it into others expertise is a nuanced form of persuasion. It’s not about pitching each other.

Note that what most people distastefully call the “political” aspect of executive careers is simply executives fumbling around at attempts at persuasion and collaboration that go nowhere. Labeling it “politics” externalizes a lack of excellence at your craft. Excel at these things and the politics tends to disappear.

Often business realities mean that the organization has to change and adapt. In order to do that, the executive team will have to create the objective and direction. And then they’ll have to communicate it to others in order to move the organization. You must be able to define that vision for your organization and articulate it clearly and persuasively.