How successful are you at creating the right impact as a leader?

In my last post I talked about the first principle of having a greater impact and

leadership presence – how you show up as a leader.

Right now I want to build on that and share the second principle - purpose.

I see so many leaders simply ‘going through the motions’ – ‘doing what they have always done’ and wondering why they didn’t get the results they wanted.

This is why purpose is important.

Purpose is all about your intention in any situation – being clear about what you want to achieve.

How often do you go into a meeting with a very clear intention of what you want to achieve from it?

If your answer is less than 100%, then there is some work to be done here.

As a leader you are on show all of the time and people are always watching you.

You are judged by the impact you have on others.

We all judge others on what they say, what they do and how they act, and yet we judge ourselves by our intentions.

To be an effective leader your actions have got to match your intentions.

If you aren’t clear then the chances of the person on the receiving end understanding are pretty slim. If you are thinking one thing and saying another people pick up on this.

What is his intention?

When you are clear about your intention your mind and body are connected, how you act and what you say will be completely congruent.

Let me tell you why this is important.

Leadership is about connection, so you need to make sure you connect in some way with everyone you meet – and yes I did say everyone.

You have to take the other person into consideration to connect. Some questions you may want to ask yourself are:

• What is your current relationship with them?
• What history is there between you (or their department)?
• How do you want this relationship to develop?

So how do you want to be influencing your relationships with others?

Once you are clear on this you can then consider your intentions for the meeting you are going to have with them.

Setting an intention

Here are a few examples of things you could consider as intentions:

• Is it simply to connect and build rapport with the person – believe me that is a good intention to have  - remember presence is…what others sense and feel when they are with you.
• Is there a particular result you want from this meeting?
• Is there a system, structure or process you want to review, put in place, or agree?
• Is there something you want to learn?
• Is this a topic you simply want to understand?
• If so what is it that you want to learn/understand?
• Is there an idea you want to share and get some feedback on?

These are just some examples to consider and I’m sure you’ll come up with your own.

Being really clear about your intention helps you focus your mind and your energy.

I know you’ll have many meetings every week, so here is an exercise for you.

Here is what I’d like you to experiment with: 

1. First set an intention for every meeting you go to. Yes! Every meeting.
2. Second consider how you want to be seen.  
3. And then put this into practice.

Now, if the thought of doing this for every meeting sends you into panic – good! This is about doing things differently and consistently as consistent action gets consistent results. Force yourself to try this out and see what happens.

This is simply to raise your own awareness of how you show up as a leader, so you can have a greater impact and presence.

Send me an email to let me know how you get on.

“What you think you become.”

Buddha

How are you showing up as a leader?

More and more leaders are asking me to work with them to develop their presence and personal impact.

What I’ve noticed is they are typically faced with these 3 challenges:

1.   They’ve been told that you need to develop a greater presence yet no-one has given you any idea how you’re supposed to do this, or what specifically you need to do.

2.   They are mixing with the right people but can’t seem to get the airtime or their attention to get your message across.

3.   They have way too much to do and don’t have time to spend on developing your presence, after all that’s not going to get the job done!

When I ask anyone what leadership presence is they often struggle to define it and yet they know it’s important.

The truth is no one really teaches this stuff… until now.

For me there are 4 key principles needed to develop an authentic presence that will allow you to:

·      Get the air-time and attention of the people you need too,

·      Influence others and take them with you, and

·      Be seen as a calm and credible leader

I’ve developed a framework around these 4 principles, all equally important and necessary if you want to be successful. You can come back to them time and time again as you progress through your career.

Today, I want to share the first element – how you physically show up as a leader.

You are on show all of the time and people are always watching you and making assessments. Whether you like it or not you set the tone and standards for those around you.

So it’s not good enough to just ‘show up’ and hope for the best.

Whether you like it or not you are judged by the impact you have on others.

People are watching how you act, how you walk, how you sit and how you talk…it’s therefore the quality of your visibility that counts.

It’s the quality you bring to any situation and how you actually present yourself that matters.

This is the foundation piece for presence and impact.

Here’s an example.

I was working with a Board Director; let’s call him Joe. He recognised he’d got more and more drawn into tactical issues and had lost the influence he once had.

When I first met him what I saw was someone who looked frail, ‘mouse like’, and seemed to be making himself look small and blend in.

He certainly didn’t look like a Board Director who owned his agenda let alone his own space.

In just one session we worked on his posture. How he walked and how he filled his own his space. I encouraged him to pay attention to this in meetings and as he walked around the office.

When I next saw him I hardly recognized him. He looked taller. He was walking more confidently and appeared much more comfortable in his own skin. He told me how practicing these subtleties were paying off in his approach to managing meetings and leading discussions.  

So why have I chosen to share this particular story?

LEADERSHIP PRESENCE IS HOW OTHERS EXPERIENCE YOU!

It’s what others sense and feel when they are with you, how you project confidence and credibility.

It's reflected in the quality of the relationships you build, the levels of safety and trust that people feel when they are with you, and in the working environment that you create.

When you get it right this ‘presence’ resonates with, stabilises, and influences others.

So, as presence is something that we experience I thought you might like a little exercise to assess your own presence.

This is an opportunity to raise your awareness of how YOU show up and how that feels to you.

As I’ve already mentioned presence is a felt sense of who you are and how you come across. We often don’t take time to get a sense of this for ourselves.

Let’s start with paying attention to your posture.

Over the next few days start to notice:

How you are walking.

• Are you leaning forward?
• How are you holding your shoulders? Are they rolled forward or hunched up?
• Do you walk fast or slow?
• Where are you looking? Do you look around you or at the floor?

When you are in a meeting or at your desk..

• How are you sitting?
• What are you doing with your feet, do you have your legs crossed or are your feet planted firmly on the floor?
• How are you sitting on the chair? Are you taking up the whole seat, sitting on the edge, or are you leaning to one side?
• In meetings what are you doing with your hands? Are you doodling, fidgeting, working on your computer, or do you have them resting on the table?

These are just a few things to look out for and you may notice others.

What I’d like you to do is make a note of what you observe and ask yourself these 3 questions:

1.   What word would others use to describe you right now?

2.   Is this how you want to be described?

3.   If not, how do you want to be seen instead?

It’s a simple exercise and I just want you to observe yourself and make any adjustments you think will help.

Leadership starts with self-awareness.

I hope you get some great insights and I look forward to connecting with you soon. 

If you’d like to explore how you can develop your own leadership presence further email me and we can set up a call to explore this further.

‘There is more wisdom in your body than in your deepest philosophy.’

Friederich Nietzsche