leadership

As a career coach I get many requests from parents during this time of the year when high-school students and degreed graduates are dealing with deadlines for college-admission applications. They often seek my help in choosing a career path and then colleges that will best prepare them for their career choice.

Many of my clients are individual contributors, team leads, and first-level managers. Despite their excellent work they lament that their work does not get the visibility and recognition throughout their organization. This becomes painfully apparent to them during their annual performance review and during the time their promotion is due.

There is much mystery—and interest--around the topic of executive presence. To different people it means different things. In simple terms it means your ability to influence, create an impact, and to show your value not just in a challenging situation, but always. The following are the main vectors for improving your executive presence:
1. How you look
2. How you dress
3. What you say

During my 10 years of career coaching—and management consulting prior to that—I have found a counterintuitive phenomenon in management that defies common sense. I have also seen this when I was heading an engineering organization in my first career, more than 20 years back.