Not Your Parents' Executive Presence

This isn’t your parents’ executive presence.

I wish I could remove the concept of “executive presence” altogether.

But the more I work with my clients, the more I see:

It’s still the reality they face, every single day.

Evaluation against a suit-and-tie, command-and-control image

that’s growing more outdated by the minute.

And yet - 

Even as empathy, thoughtfulness, and diverse perspectives rise as leadership mandates, the old expectations remain loud and clear:

📢 Command the room

📢 Speak louder

📢 Be more assertive

📢 Polish your delivery

📢 Know everything (even when you’re unsure)

For many thoughtful, quietly powerful leaders, this feels like putting on a costume.

An uncomfortable, claustrophobic, sweaty clownsuit. 🤡

Or a heavy suit of armor. ⚔️

Here’s what I believe:

✨ Executive presence shouldn’t be performative.

It should be an expression of alignment: clear, human, and real. 

➡ Individual alignment: What matters to you?

➡ People alignment: What matters to your team?

➡ Business alignment: What matters to your organization?

It’s not about turning into someone else.

It’s about showing up as more of you, clearer, more grounded, and with intention. 

Let's dial up the "presence" and redesign the "executive". 

Here are 5 shifts I explore with clients who want executive influence, without the armor:

1. Get clear on what matters.

This gets personal. And many leaders struggle to answer honestly, because we’re so used to saying what we think we’re supposed to say.

2. Take up space in ways that feel natural to you.

You don’t have to “own the room.”

Maybe you own the pause. Or the framing of the question.

3. Share stories, not just stats.

Leaders don’t influence through logic alone.

Your lived experience carries power. Honor your own voice.

4. Signal conviction, even in quiet delivery.

It’s not the volume. It’s the steadiness.

A calm, clear voice can shift the tone of an entire room.

5. Don’t over-edit your presence.

If you speak like you're writing emails, too polished, too precise, it can create distance. Try being in the room, not performing for it. 

Executive identity isn’t a skillset you bolt on.

It’s something you uncover.

What does executive presence mean to you?

This is what we’re redesigning inside The Leadership Studio™.

Leading with influence, without the armor.

👉 I'd love to hear your take on executive presence - still serving us, or time to evolve it?

[Photo: Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada, 2024. Me summoning my presence.]