“Presence is the radiance of authenticity. It is different from charisma: charisma is a gift, but it’s sheen on metal. Presence is the real deal – a person’s mettle.” _ John Baldoni
What does it look like when you tune in your leadership presence?
What becomes possible for you when you are in a room full of people you aspire to influence?
Charisma will win attention, but presence will win hearts.
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Welcome to Snippet of Leadership Influence Wednesday, your Oasis of leadership embodiment.
Presence.
A very simple 8 letter word in a complex relationship with your leadership style.
When you are asked to think ahead, be a visionary, have your message come across, hold space for people to grow, stay motivated and move the company forward with you, it can be VERY difficult to cultivate leadership presence.
Your mind is often time 10 steps ahead from others, you head is filled with endless to do list, you can smell the next fire needs to be extinguished and all you want is for people to “just do their jobs” so you can do yours.
It’s a myth that to command a room, you have to be the one who speaks most, talks loudest, and have all of the answers.
That surely will grab attention, but you are still not guaranteed to demonstrate gravitas, be herd or listened to.
When was the last time you spoke to your audience and felt:
- Connected to them?
- Authentic?
- Mostly in tune with what was going on in their minds?
- The need to adjust your message in the moment?
These are all signs that you may have been in tune with your leadership presence. And I say may because all depending of your level of self-awareness, it’s possible you have answered NO to some of those because you are not aware you actually got it, or that you have answered yes because you THINK you got it.
There is a great quote by Executive Coach and Leadership Educator John Baldoni that says: “Presence is the radiance of authenticity. It is different from charisma; charisma is a gift, but it’s the sheen on metal. Presence is the real deal – a person’s mettle.”
It’s a very powerful quote because often times we think “charisma” will come motivate, empower teams, and ultimately save the day…until the leader leaves the room or the company.
That said, leaders who cultivate leadership presence are influential because their various audience feel connected with them in some way, feel acknowledged, feel engaged in the conversation, and become inspired to take action beyond their job descriptions.
Share with me in the comments below or in private messaging, what distracts you the most when it comes to practicing leadership presence?
Until next time, thank you for watching, and I will see you next week with the dimension of Community.
