Leadership Communication

Executive presence is often described as something a leader either naturally has or does not have. We associate it with confidence, authority, composure, charisma, or the ability to command a room. But executive presence is not simply a personality trait. It is something other people experience through the way a leader communicates.

The demands placed on business leaders have always been significant, but the environment in which they are expected to lead has fundamentally changed. Executives today are making decisions in a world of constant information, competing opinions, rapid technological change and increasing pressure to respond quickly.

When we think about influential executives, we often think about authority, experience, intelligence or charisma. But I believe one of the most important sources of executive influence is much simpler: communication.

Most leaders communicate constantly. They hold meetings, present strategies, announce priorities, answer questions, and speak with employees about where the organization is going. Yet there is a significant difference between communicating information and actually changing behaviour. An employee can understand a strategy perfectly well and still walk away from the meeting and continue doing exactly what they were doing before.