Leadership Presence Series – Post 15 of 16: Research On Presence

In this series on presence I’ve listed its seven qualities. But has anyone done research on presence and, if so, does their work support the idea of these seven qualities? Interested in the answer?

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 15: Research On Presence.

Answer #1

Referring back to my question, “Has anyone done research on presence?” The answer is, “Not exactly”, although I did mention the work of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on “flow” in part 11.

Answer #2

However, Abraham Maslow, one of the prime movers in shifting psychology away from a preoccupation with what’s wrong with people towards their potential and how to release it, did study what he called “peak experiences” in the 1950s.

Peak experiences are sudden feelings of intense happiness, satisfaction and well-being. They’re relevant here because I believe they are temporary experiences of presence.

He listed the features of peak experiences uncovered in his research, publishing them in the book, Toward a Psychology of Being. You’ll notice a correlation between his sixteen attributes and the seven qualities. They were:

(1) Feeling whole, at peace with oneself.

(2) Being able to connect with and appreciate others, even feeling a sense of oneness.

(3) Being able to use one’s powers to the fullest, feeling fully “in the zone,” on top form.

(4) A sense of effortlessness in using one’s powers – a sense of flow and ease.

(5) A sense of being wholly responsible for one’s actions and perceptions, of being able to act with free will and determine the course of one’s life.

(6) Freedom from fears, inhibitions, doubts or inner blocks.

(7) Feeling spontaneous and expressive and being more inclined to be candid with others.

(8) Greater creativity and originality, being prepared to improvise.

(9) Being oneself, expressing one’s uniqueness.

(10) Being present to the here-and-now, not being caught in the past or the future.

(11) Respecting and appreciating oneself while, at the same time, equally respecting and appreciating the other person; being able to love another without needing them, clinging to them or limiting them in any way.

(12) Experiencing joy in who you are being and what you are doing, not acting out of any sense of lack.

(13) A tendency to communicate in poetic or even mystical language.

(14) A sense of completion and renewal.

(15) Playfulness, happiness, amusement and a sense of abundance.

(16) Gratitude.

If you read back over my series of posts, it’s not hard to see the overlap with the seven qualities of presence I’ve outlined.

Next (final) post in the series: How To Develop Your 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”.