Episode 25: How to develop executive presence

This episode marks ~6 months into this journey. Thank you so much for taking the time to read, ask questions, and suggest new topics to write on. We are just getting started.

4 years ago, I received feedback that I didn’t have “executive presence”. I immediately dismissed the feedback, thinking these people were out of touch with reality. They needed to ditch the formalities and focus on the work.

Two years later, I realized the issue still existed, but no one told me this time around. I had been invited to have a standing 15-minute meeting every month at the CEO + Directors meeting, but the engagement was waning. I again blamed the executive team for not focusing until I asked a coworker who also regularly presents to that group for feedback. She used different words but described the same concept—executive presence.

Here is what I was missing: Every executive is different and requires a different level of formality. Some expect a specific format in the document and will not converse with you without it. For others, it’s about your physical presence—what you’re wearing, your tone, and how you take feedback.

Here’s how I went from waning participation in the executive team to being invited to create content for the Board of Directors:

Think in altitudes

You need to understand where a remit starts and stops for each executive — said differently who they are, why they exist, and how they are meant to add value to the business.

Eric, the CEO Coach, summarized this well. tldr

• CEO: visionary and final decision-marker

• CFO: needs to know the numbers

• COO: how will this get done

• CMO: how will we tell everyone

• CHRO: how does this affect our people

• CRO: will it drive dollars

• CTO: what tech is needed

• CLO: any legal issues

If you’re talking to the CEO, they typically live in the escalations from their direct reports. They often know the exceptions to the rule but lack data points for what steady state looks like and how often escalations occur. Start with this context.

Remember the Board is the escalation point for the CEO+Directs. The Board often has less day-to-day context and operates on shared experiences to solve the challenge. It’s even more critical here to develop a shared reality of what happened, how often this happens, your plan to fix it, and where specifically you need input.

Every conversation with executives or the board should have a clear outcome you are driving toward. Have meaty questions that the business (relevant responsible exec) needs input on to set strategy. Your job is framing the problem into key asks (see example at the end).

Learn room dynamics

My favorite episode of Suits is when Hardman returns to take over the firm from Jessica. He waits until Tanner’s case against Harvey is settled before he calls the vote to remove Jessica as managing partner.

You never call for a vote before you know you have the votes. Similarly, you don’t try to drive a decision until you know who will be for or against that decision.

Start with one exec and get their input/feedback on how you are framing things. Then, ask, “Who will likely have a lot of opinions about this?”. That’s the next person on your list, and then you repeat until you stop getting suggestions for new people. That way, when you get to the meeting, everyone who would reject/deny/argue against your proposal will have had time to get clarity and change their mind.

Different topics have different dynamics, so repeating this process each time you interact with the executive team is essential. Over time, you can co-develop content with an executive with the strongest opinions to reduce the work needed each time.

This also means your prep starts weeks before the meeting, so you have time to go through this process.

High-level leaders want (high-level) hard problems

Once you learn the altitude you need to think at and the room dynamics, you can figure out the right problem to frame. Spend the majority of your time on discussion. For example, if you have 1 hour, I would spend 15-20 minutes setting relevant context and 40+ minutes driving discussion. Your goal is to come out of the discussion with a decision (i.e., answering specific questions).

My go-to question is to debate the assumptions for our strategy. Excerpt from a real example I’ve used:

I spend the first 15 minutes setting context on who we win and lose against most frequently and summarizing why customers choose us vs. specific competitors, including any feature gaps they have raised.

Then we get into the debate. These questions are pretty meaty and often go on relevant (also irrelevant) tangents, so keeping folks focused on answering them is critical.

I’m still practicing/refining my approach to executives, but these tips have gotten me to board rooms today, and I’m confident they can do the same for you.

As always, feedback is a gift, and I welcome any/all feedback on this episode—good or bad. See you next week 👋.

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✨ Special thank you to Gigi Marquez who suggested I start this newsletter 🙏