Leadership Presence Series – Post 12 of 16: Presence Is Spherical

What if the act of growing your leadership presence is exponential? In other words, that presence is spherical not linear. Discover how the seven qualities of presence I’ve described multiply one another to create inner wholeness.

Introduction

If presence is a key to leading successfully – and it is – we need to understand it. So what is it? What’s so great about it? How does it show itself? What’s the source of presence? How do you develop it? That’s what we’re covering in this 16-part series.

Welcome to part 12: Presence Is Spherical.

Systemic Whole

Perhaps on reading the previous posts you created a linear mental image of presence, imagining the seven qualities stacked above one other like a layered cake.

But although they’re distinct, they’re not separate. They work as a systemic whole.

Connectedness

For example, quality #7, Inner Peace, Flow & Joy, partly results from the first six qualities.

To illustrate, consider how quality #1, Personal Power, frees us from the personal filters causing us to create a fixed, prejudiced view of what events mean or to hold rigid opinions on how they should unfold if we’re to be happy. These filters stop us being in the flow. Dissolving them boosts quality #7.

But Inner Peace, Flow & Joy also supports and reinforces the other six qualities:

• Inner peace quietens the mind, making it easier to exercise Personal Power (Q1) and tap into your Intuition (Q5), whatever’s happening to you.
• Flow and joy give leaders emotional fuel to achieve their purpose (part of Q4, Balance) and continue transcending their present level (Q3, Drive to Be More).

Picturing Presence

I could offer more examples of the seven qualities’ interplay. But if you wish to think in pictures, imagine them as a multi-faceted spherical diamond. Why?

1. Because they influence and support one another in ways that – if you mapped them – would produce a diagram that’s more spherical than stacked layers.
2. I’ve noticed that as leaders express more of each quality, the qualities reinforce one another, creating a multiplying, quickening effect.

Thus, I suspect the growth in a leader’s presence isn’t linear (straight line); it’s exponential (curved upward line).

That’s why a sphere is a better way to depict how the seven qualities of presence work to create one – ideally, ever-growing – whole.

Wholeness & Why It Matters To Leaders

The golden thread running through all seven qualities is wholeness.

Wholeness, as explained in post #2, is you being true to yourself, fully alive, free from inner fears and conflicts, expressing yourself powerfully, fearlessly, creatively, lovingly and wisely in the service of others.

And in its highest form, it can inspire others to sense and release their potential.

Next post in the series: Degrees Of Presence

[This post uses content from my 2016 book, The Three Levels of Leadership.]

Are you a visual or audio-orientated person? If so, you might prefer to see and hear me talking about leadership presence in my eleven-episode video series on YouTube at my YT channel, The Leadership Mastery Suite. When you arrive at the channel page, scroll down until you come to Created Playlists and there you’ll find the series, “On Leadership Presence”.