Top 6 Increasingly Important Traits in Executive Presence
What is Executive Presence?
Aspiring leaders understand the importance of developing executive presence in their pursuit of the highest levels of leadership at the vast majority of organizations.
What is executive presence, exactly?
Sylvia Ann Hewlett defines it best, in a recent Harvard Business Review article, The New Rules of Executive Presence: “In most corporate settings, [executive presence] has traditionally boiled down to three attributes: gravitas, strong communication skills, and the “right” appearance.”1
However, in the last ten years, expectations of leaders have evolved, and so have the leadership traits that matter most.
In this article, we’ll explore six traits that Hewlett has identified as playing an increasing role in executive presence, based on findings from her latest research.
Trait #1: Inclusiveness
A truly inclusive workplace is one that not only recruits and hires a diverse workforce, but one that values its diverse employees and involves, develops, empowers and trusts them.
It seems like every company touts diversity and inclusion as a core value these days; but how many walk the talk? Certainly not all of them!
Consider how your internal processes and ways of working support these values to foster increased employee morale and retention - and business results will follow.
Take, for example, a recent example of a firm whose business unit had five open positions for mid-to-senior level management positions. All external candidates recruited to be interviewed for all five positions were male, and naturally, all five new hires that resulted from those interviews male. This, combined with a culture in which meetings were purported to be inclusive, but key decisions on strategy would often later be re-negotiated by males in closed door settings, sent a message, whether intended or unintended: Opportunities for females to make an impact and to advance would be limited. Not surprisingly, attrition followed, not only by females, but also by males, as trust in the leadership team eroded and results suffered.
Fostering inclusiveness is not only critical for building executive presence, but it is critical for employee retention and business outcomes. When recruiting candidates for an open position, how might you ensure diversity of candidates - and what might doing so signal to prospective, as well as to current, employees?
Trait #2: Respect for Others
Respectful leaders today recognize that there is tremendous value in investing time and effort to truly understand the lived experiences of those who are different than themselves.
It’s easy to create echo chambers and hire people just like ourselves - but will doing so create a strong and sustainable business? Building teams of people with diverse backgrounds, hiring experts to provide diverse perspectives, and getting out there, observing, and asking people questions is a great source of insights for your business - as well as for your own personal development.
If you’re a Millennial, Gen Xer, or Baby Boomer, have you ever observed a young adult taking a photo of a ceiling or a wall on their mobile phone, and wondered what they are doing? By observing and asking questions, you’d quickly discover the nuanced language and culture of Snapchat users. “While streaks may seem like a silly use of time to an adult, Snapstreaks are a social dynamic many teens value. Streaks may help kids feel included, accepted, and connected to their peers,” writes Toni Birdsong.2
Trait #3: Command of Zoom
Virtual meetings are here to stay - and minimalism and preparation are the keys to success.
Creating a clean, clutter-free background for virtual meetings creates a calm, professional look. Furthermore, dressing in attire that is non-distracting, such as wearing solid colors like navy blue, black, or white to create contrast with your background, will convey a polished, professional look. Patterns, while they may be aesthetically beautiful, don’t translate well to virtual environments, particularly for those seeking polished looks.
When it comes to engaging with audiences virtually, creating eye contact and speaking clearly and concisely is critically important. Forgoing the use of PowerPoint slides and reading notes, allows leaders to engage their audience and build rapport. Creating connections and building trust and rapport is as important, if not more important, than conveying information, when building executive presence.
Ensuring mastery of the technology is table stakes, and enlisting colleagues to test functionality prior to a meeting is a must. Sending a clear agenda and pre-reads prior to the meeting, inviting individual participants to contribute during the meeting, and sending out notes and action items within one day following the meeting, are all best practices.
Trait #4: “Listen to Learn” Orientation
Roadshows, listening journeys, and ethnographic research are incredibly popular, and rightfully so. By collaborating and consulting with stakeholders, leaders can generate valuable insights to inform development of strategies and tactics for how to move forward in tackling new opportunities and challenges, innovating, and creating.
JPMorgan and Chase leaders do an incredible job of constantly being out in the field, meeting with their many stakeholders, from employees to customers, clients to partners - and posting about it on social media. Kaaren Hanson, Chief Design Officer at Chase Consumer & Community Bank (CCB), posted on LinkedIn in July 2024, about a recent CCB Product, Experience and Technology conference in Nashville, where over 250 of their top leaders gathered. Hanson shared, “The Design and Customer Experience team brought in Chase customers who shared photo-diaries and insights in real time with our senior leaders.” Surely, these customer insights will help fuel strategies for future product design opportunities, but equally important, interacting with customers will fuel enthusiasm and motivation among Chase employees to continue to deliver the best product and customer experiences to their customers.
Leaders today don’t need to know all the answers; they need to know how to bring people together and how to listen. Those who listen and learn can be rewarded with healthier business growth and employee retention rates.
Trait #5: Authenticity
Just a decade ago, executives were expected to look and act a certain way - and most kept much of their personal lives private.
Today, leaders are expected to share their values and the personal experiences that have shaped them into the executive leaders they are today. From storytelling to dressing in a polished, yet authentic way, leaders are encouraged to lean into who they really are.
In the mid-2000’s I was invited to meet with executives at a top investment bank on Broad Street to explore a really unique and exciting opportunity with the bank to make an impact on small businesses in the Midwest. I was deeply passionate about the opportunity, and knew that the way I showed up in that meeting would be critically important. I felt that I needed to “look” a certain way, and so, I chose to dress in my only beautiful navy pinstripe suit, rich burgundy patent leather shoes, and subtle accessories. I fit in beautifully, a true chameleon. By contrast, more than ten years later, a week before my first sales meeting at Chicago-based TransUnion, my VP told me to be sure to pack a cocktail dress for the awards banquet. I thought, “A cocktail dress?” Until that point, I had never been to a work function where the attire had been anything other than suits and business casual - even though I loved cocktail dresses.I showed up, and boy, were there a wide range of styles and colors, sequins and fabrics!
Trait #6: Online & In-Person Presence
Building your personal brand as an executive is essential in this day and age - and doing so using social media and in IRL (that’s short for in-real-life), with all of your stakeholders - is the way to go.
Suzy Welch, NY Times best selling author and Professor of Management Practice at NYU’s Stern School of Business, does an amazing job using social media - Instagram, specifically - to build her brand. By doing so, she’s reaching so many prospective customers - including my yoga instructor in the suburbs of Chicago, via Instagram! (Yes, figuring out my own social media presence is on my roadmap!).
Building your brand in person is just as important as building your brand online. By bringing your team together regularly, you’ll build your brand, energize and motivate your team, and foster inclusiveness. Sylvia Ann Hewlett describes how one much admired executive, Tiger Tyagarajan, CEO of Genpact, does just that: “Between 2011 and 2023 he shifted the percentage of women in senior roles from 1% to 38%. In 2022, as the pandemic quieted down, he noticed that men were more willing than women to come back to the office. He didn’t want to force everyone to return, but he worried that women who stayed fully remote might imperil their promotion prospects by being ‘out of sight, out of mind.’ Therefore, he began having executives pull their teams together every six weeks for two-day on-site retreats.”3
Building your Executive Presence
Building genuine executive presence begins with knowing who you are and your purpose. It requires confidence to embrace your unique gifts and talents, and believing in yourself and in your ability to achieve the impact you know you are meant to achieve. It requires self-awareness, a willingness to invest in personal development, and the courage to get uncomfortable in order to achieve the growth that you seek to achieve.
If you really, truly want it, and are committed to doing what it takes to achieve it, you’ll make it happen!
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