Executive Presence Survey & Research: 8 Behaviors Sabotaging Leaders”

How do you undermine your executive presence? A survey we conducted at GEC Research Center determined 8 key ways in which leaders sabotage their own executive presence. These executive presence behaviors are based on research conducted with 1400 workers.

1. Acting indecisive
2. Being timid
3. Lacking confidence
4. Rambling
5. Being too quiet
6. Being disorganized
7. Having a laidback demeanor
8. Seeming unimaginative

8 behaviors that can undermine your executive presence, survey research shows

These are all surefire ways to undermine your executive presence. Let’s take a closer look at how each of these behaviors harms your executive presence. We’ll also examine how to change them, starting now.

1. Acting indecisive.

   Being indecisive will present you as insecure and unable to trust your own judgment. If you’re indecisive, you probably overanalyze things indefinitely, not wanting to make a choice until you have 100% of the information or get everyone on board. But since leaders never have perfect information, that leaves you avoiding making any choice.

   Rather than being so tentative, practice taking a leap. Start small and work up to bigger things. Establish a new decision-making protocol for yourself so you’ll know when it’s time to decide. For example, you’ll consult with three trusted advisors about a big decision and spend a couple of hours doing your due diligence.

2. Being timid.

   If you’re timid, people won’t trust you to take the reins, and you may not fully assume ownership of projects and outcomes. You’ll seem meek and unassertive rather than strong and capable. You may appear too deferential to others, treating everyone as being far superior to you.

   To overcome your timidness, build genuine relationships with people. As you come to know and trust them more, you’ll feel more empowered to be your whole self. Begin treating superiors more like peers, working to become more relaxed around them. Get to know them over coffee, if possible. This will help you relate to them as another human rather than as a boss. The same strategy will work with peers, by the way.

3. Lacking confidence.

   Not showing conviction, confidence, and command in every situation will also bring down your executive presence. This can manifest as apologizing a lot (and often for minor things or issues that weren’t under your control). You may focus on pleasing others and catering to their wishes rather than radiating a strong belief in your own ideas.

   To build up your confidence, you need to start acting confident and showing conviction. Challenge yourself to offer a controversial opinion at times, and to present your ideas without apology. You’ll gradually start to feel more confident as you realize that your ideas are generally respected and that you enjoy being a more active participant in discussions. People won’t always agree with you, but they’ll appreciate your input.

4. Rambling.

   If you’re not succinct and to-the-point when communicating, people won’t understand what you were trying to emphasize. They’ll walk away from the conversation unable to remember your key points. You may not read the room well, and therefore may not realize when people are losing interest in your longwinded spiel. The behavior of rambling, from the executive presence survey, is something that often shows up as an area for extroverts to work on.

   When you need to present an idea or instructions, mentally rehearse beforehand. Have a list of key talking points to address. Tune into other people’s reactions to see if they’re really paying attention or have zoned out. Learning to read the room will help you decide when to wrap up or tighten up your speech.

5. Being too quiet.

   If you’re too quiet, you don’t create a presence for yourself in social interactions. Whether you’re soft-spoken and don’t make sure your words are heard, or you rarely speak up to begin with, this harms your executive presence.

   Start challenging yourself to speak up a certain number of times per meeting—say, three, to begin with—and raise that number over time. Consider the types of comments you might make. Chances are, you devalue the importance of your own input. If you don’t have a revolutionary idea, you feel as though it’s best to remain silent. But there are many valuable ways to contribute, such as voicing support for a great idea, pointing out an issue that should be resolved, or stating why you like an idea.

6. Being disorganized.

   If you seem too scattered, you won’t have your thoughts collected and situations under control. Being unprepared contributes to being unclear in meetings and one-on-ones. Plus, it creates the impression of being unprofessional and not truly grasping the importance of what you’re doing. Pencil in time to organize your talking points before meetings. Do the necessary legwork in advance, so you’re not scrambling right up to the moment a meeting begins. And show up looking polished and on time, rather than rushing and fumbling for the right tools.

7. Having a laidback demeanor.

   If you appear too laidback, it will seem like you don’t care enough about outcomes. People won’t trust your casual approach—and at its core, executive presence is about gaining their trust as a leader. It’s about earning the right to lead them rather than relying on your formal title. Showing passion for what you’re doing will inspire others to feel more committed to the vision, mission, and group projects as well.

8. Seeming unimaginative.

   If you’re too caught up in the day-to-day to offer sharp analysis and thoughtful insights, you won’t highlight your creativity. You need to carve out time to read, reflect, and think about new strategies. Make time for this every week, so you can brush up on the latest research in your field, potential cross-pollination opportunities, and other ideas that could turn heads and shake things up.

I regularly work with clients to help them overcome behaviors like those highlighted by this executive presence research. When a new client expresses that they want to grow their executive presence, there’s a good chance that they’re displaying some of these qualities at work. Fortunately, once they place a spotlight on what they’re doing wrong, they can work to remedy it day by day.

Now that you can more clearly visualize what it looks like to undermine your executive presence, work to enhance it. A skilled executive presence coach can help. Contact Joel to get started with executive coaching or an executive presence corporate training program today. You can also purchase his book for your employees: Executive Presence: Step into Your Power, Convey Confidence and Lead with Conviction.