Having the experience, education and
skill set to be a CEO is not all it
takes to get to the top, nor do these
attributes result in success. What the top
CEOs have are leadership communication
skills that cause others, both inside and
outside the organization, to buy-in to a
shared vision. New York Times bestselling
author Harrison Monarth calls this mastery
of communication skills in Executive
Presence: The Art of Commanding Respect
Like a CEO [McGraw Hill, 2009].
Monarth believes a successful CEO
can accurately read people and predict
their behavior and use that insight to
influence perceptions and bring opponents
to his way of thinking. The author
also shows how to identify who is listening
and how to craft an audience-specific
message so they can connect and buy-in
to the vision. In addition, the CEO with
executive presence can effectively maintain
a personal brand, oversee his online
reputation and effectively manage crises.
In the exclusive ExecuNet interview,
ExecuNet Editor Will Flammé asks the
author to discuss his views on creating
memorable presentations.
Q. How do you define executive presence
and why is having it important
for professionals?
A. Executive presence is often the missing
ingredient in the professional arsenals of
many otherwise smart, educated, driven
and even connected people. My definition
of executive presence comprises the
specific behaviors and communication
strategies that separate those with
leadership potential from the masses,
and positions them to become successful
leaders who others want to follow. It’s a
high-impact professional attribute,
founded on a critical skill set necessary for
anyone looking to reach the pinnacle of
their career, profession or business.
Every year, business schools and other
graduate programs release tens of thousands
of highly intelligent and ambitious
young people into a complex high-pressure
world where a stellar education, intelligence
and drive are merely the ticket to
admission. But in the never-ending
competition for the top jobs, the top
positions and the type of responsibility
that gains a person the respect and confidence
of peers and bosses, you need more
than that. You need the perception management,
influential communication and
personal branding skills, and strategies
that unfortunately aren’t taught in the
curricula of today’s business schools.
Q. What suggestions do you have
for using the media to enhance one’s
professional image?
A. One of the keys in successfully promoting
one’s personal brand through the
media is knowing how to communicate
in pithy sound-bites. Those are the compelling
quotes and clear messages that cut
through the noise and stand out.
Another key is mastering the art of
responding to difficult questions during
interviews to maximize the perception of
credibility. Professionals should keep in
mind that the media is not interested in
promoting them. The media is interested
in the back-story and the answers people
would rather not give. Therefore, anticipating
and being prepared to answer difficult
questions is critical to protect one’s reputation
and credibility and enhance one’s
professional image via the media.
Q. How does an executive develop
himself into a compelling brand?
A. It’s important to remember that everything
about us communicates a message
to a watching, listening, judging public.
And from our grooming and style to our
content and delivery and of course our
behavior, our actions, we tell the world
who we really are, whether we like it or
not. That’s why paying attention to all of
the communication signals we’re sending
is critical as we craft a powerful personal
brand that is consistent and elicits positive
emotions and valuations.
Self-awareness — knowing the
impact of how you come across is critical.
Everything else is based on this. From
ethically engineering buy-in and gaining
compliance to learning how to change
attitudes and behaviors to managing
interpersonal conflict and always seeking
to improve relationships. And, of course,
the awareness that personal branding is
not a choice anymore but a requisite for
a successful career.
Q. How does an executive with executive
presence motivate his employees?
A. Executives with executive presence are
adept at creating buy-in — often easier to
define than achieve, which can be viewed
as an alignment of the thoughts and
beliefs of a target demographic with yours
as the managing or accountable entity. It
is a process of working together with people,
rather than dictating to them…in a
manner that leads toward their understanding
of the goal and its strategic
importance to achieve a win-win, all
within a common system of values. It
is gaining their personal commitment
toward a goal, as opposed to a fear of
failure, and, therefore, a willingness to
undertake and accomplish the necessary
tasks and roles. The more complex and
significant the project or organizational
objective, the more buy-in becomes an
essential component of the strategy to
achieve it. Such a definition shifts the role
of a manager from one of task-definer
and taskmaster to one of task-empowerer.
Because any executive’s first line of
managerial offense — and indeed, most
powerful strategy — is to strive to create
a level of buy-in that will accelerate
success, rather than using compliance
and dictatorial power as a doomed and
ultimately inefficient means of getting
the work done.
Archive of Recent Resources:
More Resources Are Available to Members
If you would like to become an ExecuNet Member, Click Here.
"I value my ExecuNet membership, and suspect I may continue on even after I land, as a reminder of the importance of staying in
touch and networking."
