He says that executive presence in a leader is about character and is displayed by doing the right thing in the right way and getting consistent results. The leader goes the distance to find solutions - no shortcuts. The critical ingredients are trust – credibility and authenticity, and executive presence requires the leader to fully engage heart and head to work together. Mark W. Sickles, an advisor to corporate boards and executive teams, says “When executives with presence walk into the room, people think, ‘Now, something good is going to happen’”. Such leaders are typically respected not so much for the job they hold as for the job they are doing.

Are leaders born with executive presence or can they acquire it? Apparently, there are specific qualities that qualify an individual for executive presence. A great track record and performance background only open doors. Thereafter people watch for evidence. Presence, like reputation, builds slowly and surely over time as trust is established through accountability and consistent success. You either naturally project executive presence or you work at it as you would in cultivating any new skill. In this case, executive presence is more than a skill, it is a state of being and doing.

In building trust, head-intellectual skills and heart-emotional skills are equally important. Leaders with executive presence are intuitively pragmatic about the reality of a situation, according to Tad McIntosh of HumCap. They see beyond the problem to the wider organisational, individual and personal contexts. They have a growth mindset - focusing on effort and hard work rather than a fixed mindset that relies heavily on inherent talent. High awareness of self and others or EQ is also essential as it facilitates good decision-making, effective communications and high quality relationships.

A leader who lacks self-management skills also tend to lack the discipline needed to make decisions such as considering both positive and negative consequences and being reflective rather than reflexive. Confidence, discipline and tolerance for frustration have significant impact on performance.

Dr Paul Aldo of IPS, an Atlanta-based executive consulting firm, suggests that executive presence is more about conduct than context. It is how you package content and tell the story –essentially how you communicate. He lists the following qualities of people perceived to have executive presence:

• Candour. The willingness and ability to tell it like it is constructively. Honesty and authenticity matter.
• Clarity. The ability to tell your story in an intuitively clear and compelling way.
• Openness. Willingness to consider another person’s perspectives without pre-judgement.
• Passion. Personal engagement that convinces others that you truly believe and are motivated, committed and driven by a cause or point of view.
• Poise. The way you carry yourself. Personal style that tells of your background, education and experience.
• Self-confidence. The air of assurance of strength and resolve to carry things through.
• Sincerity. Firm conviction of believing and meaning what you say.
• Thoughtfulness. The impression of thinking through and deep reflection on issues.
• Warmth. The appearance of being accessible to others and being interested in them.

We have all encountered that larger than life person who simply stands out whether in a dialogue, a meeting or conference. That person who exudes personal engagement and commands attention with clarity of thought and expression, making him/her exceptional in that setting. That same person seems to connect with you on an intellectual, emotional or spiritual level even though at arm’s length or from a distance. That is executive presence and we can learn to command that kind of presence. Dr Aldo suggests that we first master the application of expressive tools that we have and then be authentic in projecting executive presence in our use of those tools.

Communication is 80 per cent non-verbal and it is no surprise that creating an executive presence requires strong non-verbal communication skills. The expressive tools readily at hand are our eyes, face, body, voice, conversational pace, and message architecture. These tools represent the entire spectrum of expressive possibilities. Our eyes speak of emotions that lie deep within and our facial expressions are universally understood - a smile is a smile anywhere and a frown is a frown on anyone. We are constantly scanning people’s faces to assess the emotional landscape when we communicate. Body language and voice modulations also carry tremendous weight in setting the stage too.

Picture your usually convivial counterpart sitting at the meeting table with arms folded across his chest, giving you short terse responses in a monotone with a blank face and not looking you in the eye. Your response?
(a) Great! He’s happy to discuss my last email
(b) Oops! I hope it’s not about the email I sent
(c) This is bad. Stay calm. Listen and connect.

Message architecture. No matter how well we carry ourselves or how good we sound, the message that comes out of our mouths matter. We need to pay attention to how we craft a message - the lines, the flow, the emphasis, and the psychological state that we want to induce in our audience.

The trick is to effectively use your expressive tools to project the nine qualities of executive presence. Like all good habits of high performance, it takes constant focused deliberate practice with guidance or a coach.

Leaders with executive presence can make a significant positive difference. They are perceived to have good judgment and display multi-dimensional competencies that enable high performance in teams and organisations. “They not only set strategy, they also implement the plan and get others to assist them”, according to Stephen Long. They are thinkers and doers. They have character. Their people are inspired by them and trust them to do the right thing the right way and to treat other people right. Judgment and wisdom, integrity and authenticity, character and courage – these are qualities that effective leaders need to convey consistently and convincingly. Executive presence is having the knack of communicating to make people stop - to listen, think and do.