One really great sign as to whether or not you and other leaders have strong executive presence is how well respected you are. Respect is a great result of strong executive presence, and that respect goes every which way, right? Respected by your followers, your team, as well as respect among your peers and your colleagues.
And absolutely, if you are exhibiting strong executive presence, the right kind of mix, what I like to call “unlocking your X factor,” if you’ve got that, then senior leadership absolutely respects you. But here’s the myth. The myth is in order to get that respect, what the people believe their executive presence needs to look like is very aggressive. Like you’re showing up so overly assertive – again, aggressive behavior, especially for women.
We know that women tend to try to channel some masculine energy, and I’m not saying not to do that. But when we take that masculine energy over the top to where it’s aggressive, we are absolutely missing the mark. There’s this thought that I’ve got to dominate people in order to get the respect – when in fact, true executive presence commands respect, does not demand respect.
So as you’re thinking about how do I show up with my physicality, my posturing, my presence, how do I show up with my tone, right? Dominating behavior sounds like yelling, very terse, very robotic language and tonality. How are you showing up in terms of your facial expressions? Again, dominant behavior does not have any warmth to it.
So as you’re evaluating your level of executive presence, take a look around and say, okay, have I commanded respect? Am I showing up in a way that shows I am strong, I am a confident person, without going over the top where I’m now giving off this aggressive, dominant energy? So, evaluate all of those things. Again, your body language, your tone, your volume, and see how you’re showing up, and make sure you’re not crossing over that line to where that misconception is that I’ve got to be aggressive and dominant.
In fact, most amazing leaders with high executive presence who have great respect are actually those that tend to be a little bit more mysterious, a little bit more soft spoken, but they still command some sort of engagement. So take a look at all of that for yourself today, see how you can start to make some of those changes to increase your executive presence or unlock your X factor!