Executive Presence

  Career Development   Leadership   New Practitioners   ProjectsAtWork  

Leadership isn’t about seat placement at a meeting; it’s about influence and impact through delegation and communication. However, the best leaders also exude a “presence” wherever they sit or stand. Can we assess, measure and develop the seemingly intangible qualities of this X-factor?

Leadership is a big bucket, but once you get past core skills like communicating and delegating, the qualities for success become more murky. People instinctively understand that intangible qualities like authenticity, resonance and wisdom are at the heart of great leadership. Yet these nuanced skills are challenging to assess and implement.

Suzanne Bates, author of the forthcoming book  All the Leader You Can Be, the Science of Achieving Extraordinary Executive Presence (McGraw-Hill; March 2016), has now codified the once seemingly elusive elements of executive presence. Bates and her team did extensive research in leadership and management, social action theory, communication theory, philosophy and ethics, to put forth the qualities of transformational leadership and a more modern view of executive performance that incorporates qualities of character and substance.

After years of working with senior executives, Bates says, "I searched for a science-based assessment that would provide real data to leaders on how others perceive their influence and impact. We didn't find it,…

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