Leadership Presence

If there’s a common trait amongst the best leaders I’ve worked with, it’s an insatiable appetite for learning. And while the craft can be learnt from textbooks and models, the art of leadership is a subtle, deeply individual expression of Self, expressed through practice and refined by experience. 

Art defies rules. How does a highly driven leader discern when to push for change and when to ease off the pace and allow an organisation to regroup? When to be collaborative and when decisive? When to be vulnerable and when to project certainty? When to listen to concerns and when to trust one’s instinct that a team is capable of more? Should one take care of the needs of customers, or staff? Or investors? Or the board? Where to go when instinct and intellect are pulling in opposite directions? When to share one’s inner experience and when to hold a boundary? When does a leader back themselves and when do they listen to the wisdom of the crowd? How does a leader acknowledge their own fear (of failure, of being wrong..) in a way that inspires followership, not panic? 

Navigating this terrain requires a rock solid foundation, a genuinely authentic leadership style, and a wisdom that comes from experience. All of these are hard-won, and combined, they create presence; that ineffable quality that permeates the air around extraordinary leaders who own their space. We feel presence in the stance assumed by the leader who understands their role in context, and is able to execute it with conviction, dignity, empathy, insight, wisdom and, all being well, a sense of humour.

The work that leads to this growth – and the creation of a compelling presence – is intrapersonal in nature. This is about exploring oneself with curiosity rather than defensiveness – allowing oneself to be surprised by what lies beneath the surface and our actions and interactions. Building self awareness lays the groundwork for growth as an individual, as well as working more elegantly with others. It also paves the way for a more satisfying experience of life, where the role one fills organisationally is sufficiently aligned with the individual that it energises, rather than drains them. A leader consumed by their role has little hope of supporting perspective in others. 

Leadership is not for the faint of heart. You have to stand up, stand out, make uncomfortable decisions for the good of the whole, some of which you might not like. You need enough ego to back yourself and enough humility to recognise when to back down. Get in touch if this sounds like your path.