In the complex world of business, managers and team leaders are often advised to cultivate their “executive presence” as a steppingstone to promotions and higher executive roles. However, this concept can seem elusive. A recent article in Harvard Business Review (April 2024) sheds light on the evolving understanding of executive presence, highlighting key elements such as gravitas, communication prowess, and appropriate appearance. The article goes on to explain how the definition of these elements has been transformed, influenced by factors like social media, global socio-political changes, and the push for inclusivity post-COVID.
The updated definition places a new emphasis on inclusiveness, which involves respecting others, listening to learn, and projecting authenticity—traits and behaviors increasingly valued in today’s leaders. While traditional qualities like decisiveness and confidence remain crucial, there is a notable shift towards valuing authenticity and the ability to genuinely connect with and support all team members.
Yet, what often goes unexplored in discussions about executive presence is the concept of “presence” itself. Here at Fénix Leadership & Development, we delve deeper, integrating insights from neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy to understand “embodied presence”—the intertwining of mind and body that influences our perceptions, decisions, and interactions.
Embodied presence refers to an acute awareness of one’s mental, physical, and emotional state and one’s surroundings during interactions. This concept is grounded in the idea that our emotions are not merely reactions but concepts we actively construct, in a process that draws from our past experiences and sensory inputs in the present. Our brain combines our perceptions, context, and interaction with the environment to give meaning to our sensations. (See neuroscientist Lisa Barrett Feldman’s work,
among others.) Leaders might leverage this understanding of constructed emotions to more readily make sense of their environment and manage their responses more effectively, fostering a presence that is both aware and adaptive.
Tuning into physical sensations, we can better understand and consciously reshape the meanings we assign to them. Through intentional practice, we might learn to attach to particular sensations an emotional concept that allows us to be more open, adaptive, and resilient. Further, it seems that some of the traits and behaviors broadly considered part of “executive presence” are enabled, supported, and undergirded by a capacity for the awareness of “embodied presence.” By maintaining presence, leaders are attuned to their sensations and responses, sensitive to the responses and energy of those around them, and maintaining a situational awareness of the environment, making sense of it all as they move to action.
Consider the example of Portuguese classical virtuoso pianist Maria João Pires, who prepared the wrong concerto, only realizing her error while sitting at the grand piano in front of the audience and after the orchestra had begun playing the first bars of music of another Mozart piano concerto. Her ability to quickly recalibrate her focus from panic to performance, relying on her memory of the concerto being performed, along with her capacity for “presence,” illustrates the power of embodied presence. Despite the initial shock, her capacity for accepting in the moment, and subsequent focus on the music, allowed her to deliver a flawless performance, drawing from the energy of the audience—an interplay of awareness and responsiveness that is crucial for resilience in leadership as well.
In an interview years after this experience, Maria João recalled that an important factor in her shifting from distress and tension to focus was an acceptance of the situation, without knowing exactly how things would unfold. She described the transformation power of acceptance. (Maria João is not a native speaker of English. I reproduce her syntax in what follows to more directly reflect her expression.) She continued: “Acceptance is something very important to be conscious of…when you accept something, you see… it is like a miracle…things come back to you. You are in all your capacities…it is like a miracle…it’s funny…the love you can feel for the people [in the audience]…it is like a friendship. At a certain moment you feel [that] they [the audience] are there to listen to the music and then we share the music and that helps a lot…I just feel the energy of the people. But the people have also to feel yours…If you are very scared, then the people don’t feel something positive. They don’t construct with you the concert. The concert has to be done between all of us…I am not giving something that they take. It is the opposite…we are giving [to] each other because we share something.” When the interviewer probed about her capacity to focus, she responded, “I practice a lot…it’s a bit of meditation…it is like being focused but not being cut [off]…being in yourself, but not cut [off] from outside…you can listen…you can hear. You are conscious about all your surroundings…at the same time you can stay with yourself…”
Maria Joao, of course, had this piece “under her fingers” and is a consummate musician with a lifetime of training. She had memorized the work being performed for a performance she gave approximately 11 months earlier. However, had she not been able to shift from one emotional disposition and change her focus in a matter of minutes, these technical and professional capacities would have not served her. In this instance, her technical and professional capabilities interwove with her embodied presence, her acceptance of the moment, and adaptability, while she drew from the energy of the audience.
In the moment, Maria João Pires had to “reframe” the situation from one of anxiety to one of possibility. The words she used to describe the experience were “acceptance, love, and drawing from the energy of the people.” In the interview, she also used the language expressing how “we constructed the performance together.”
Leaders today face a complex array of challenges that require them to be adaptable, responsive, and aware. At Fénix Leadership & Development, we recognize that the traditional markers of executive presence must be integrated with a deeper, embodied awareness (a capacity that requires cultivation and practice). This combination equips leaders not only to manage crises but also to leverage opportunities and mobilize collective action effectively.
By focusing on enhancing both executive and embodied presence, we help leaders and teams develop their sense-making capabilities, better understand their context, and employ diverse perspectives to seamlessly integrate their insights into actionable decisions. Our approach aims to build resilience and foster innovation, preparing leaders to navigate the complexity of the contemporary business landscape effectively.
