Leadership Presence Series – Post 1 of 16: What Is Presence?

What sets exceptional leaders apart – people who achieve great things for those they serve ? It’s not just skills or knowhow; it’s their unique leadership presence. But what is presence exactly?

Introduction

If leadership 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’ll cover in this 16-part series.

Welcome to part 1: What Is Presence?

The Experience of Presence

Presence reveals itself to others when you’re being the natural “you” – your true Self. It shows when you’re fully aware, alert, and giving others your undivided attention. It flows when you’re speaking honestly and respectfully without ducking issues, letting your personality shine, unhindered by hidden fears.

When presence flows like this – and it’s allied to a strong sense of mission – it has a powerful, magnetic, radiating effect on people around you. It inspires trust, respect and confidence in you as leader.

You experience your own presence when you’re in the here-and-now – not worrying about the past or future. You feel confident, in the flow, enjoy what you’re doing – and do it with ease.

It’s what sports stars experience when they talk about “being in the zone”. It’s that state where you’re  focused on the present moment, undistracted by external pressures or internal doubts. For example:

• A tennis player on match point plays it like any other point, unbothered by its emotional significance.
• A business leader, facing a crisis, deals with it decisively and wisely, without worrying about their career or reputation.

How Presence Shows Up

Are there distinctive behaviours associated with presence?

Well, men or women with presence will be attentive, “in the moment” and may speak with disarming honesty. Beyond that, I don’t believe we can say presence shows as “this” or “that” behaviour.

How it displays itself will differ, depending on your character and context.

• So one person’s presence may be expressed as visionary and charismatic.
• Another’s may be analytical, quiet and contemplative.
• Yet another’s may be both at different times, according to their character and the context.

But they all share one ability: they can choose and flex their behaviour at will regardless of outside pressure while remaining natural and authentic.

So each person’s presence is unique and flexible in expression. It doesn’t present in one predictable form of behaviour. Yet we recognise it when we meet it.

Next post in the series: The Root 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”.