The absence of ‘executive presence’

MIP. You have MIA, i.e., Missing In Action. You also have MIP, i.e., Missing In Presence. Imagine you are a top executive. Imagine you hold an important portfolio. Imagine you are in a strategic meeting. Imagine hardly anybody knows you are in the meeting. Imagine, even if they know they prefer not to know. The MIP or missing in presence is a pretty happening phenomenon.

As a coach, I am called many times by companies with this dilemma. People in the leadership team had reached this level due to their functional knowledge and expertise. They have performed well, have a fairly good conduct and deserve to be part of the higher management.

They are very useful members of the team but lack the presence and personality to command attention and interest in top level interactions. The counter question is that if they are performing well, their diminutive style is maybe what brought them here. As they say, what brought you here may not take you there.

Executive presence is an essential for leadership positions. Leadership revolves around the 3 “Is”, i.e., being inspiring, influential, and impactful. The ability to win people’s heart and mind and the ability to change mindsets and create impact is what makes you stand tall in the leadership community.

All three require Executive Presence. The best of functional experts fail to impress when they are not able to seek, speak, reach out and carry their point of view with authority and authenticity. When I go to meet HR or the top leads to discuss the exact nature of the coaching assignment, I get remarks like “She has to just not only know but show”.

“He is waiting to be asked”. “She needs to make her presence felt in front of the stakeholders”. “He is sitting there, hardly contributing anything.” “She is programmed to follow”. All these remarks are about people who have made it, almost. The strange thing is that many people are not even aware of their unawareness. What are the early signs of the absence of executive’s presence?

1. You are shying away from participation— The number one indicator is the fact that the person in question has discussed some excellent ideas in one-to-one meet-ups, but in the larger meetings they are this person who is tongue-tied. They are avoiding eye contact. They are sitting out of the range of the main people. This is not modesty or humility but timidity. This will be perceived as a lack of courage. This will be a yellow flag on your value adding ability.

2. You become emotionally unintelligent— The present person will be agile. The present person will be leaning forward. The present person will emit energy of being revved up. The person will attune himself to first his or her own feelings and then relate to the other people’s feelings, too. The person who is reluctant to indulge has a body language of withering nothingness. He is holding onto his emotions and is unable to stir himself. Somebody who himself is unstirred is unlikely to stir others. Thus the lack of inspiration and impact.

Is the ability to enter a room with an aura a natural thing? Is the ability to assert yourself in complex meetings the result of plenty of exposure? Is the ability to pitch in with differing point of views the result of a conducive environment? Yes, all these things have a contributing role. They help, but are not the only things. Executive presence requires an acceptance that your presence is not making an impact. Once you feel the need to “be there”, then work on the following:

1. Assess and remodel your look— packaging matters. We only get attracted to products that are well-packed. Shabby or unattractive packing, no matter how good the product inside is, gets overlooked. Similarly, a tech wizard, functionally brilliant person whose presence is retiring is not going to be looked at with interest.

The first part is “look” the part. That does not mean wear three-piece suits or designer women suits; it means have a simple, elegant style that is distinct and graceful. I remember a coachee who had this appearance of tight trousers and some strange collar shirts, and then we remodelled him into wearing khakees, simple shirts, casual loafer shoes, glasses that were narrower than big, and he looked a different person. Then comes the ‘carry’ part. How you carry yourself is a game of being trained on use of confident body language. How to sit with authority, how to interject with assertiveness, how to use tones to create impact is all a matter of training and coaching.

2. Intentional participation— The proactive leader will prepare himself for the MOC, i.e., the moments of contribution. The major problem many executives have is they get overawed by the senior leader’s presence. Most of them do not have the presence of mind to pitch in without being asked.

That is why prepare them for the big meetings. They need to find out the agenda for the meetings. With purposeful intent they need to be looking at the topics they need to prepare for where and when to comment, ask and remark. These need to be made without sounding intrusive and forced. That means practice them on a video. Rewind the video to see your facial expressions and tones to bring an air of composure yet assertiveness. Take feedback from a coach. When intent and content are all pre-practiced, results start coming over a period of time.

3. Lower your barriers to create opportunities—Executive presence is all about looking the part. That requires informal connects, too. Make sure your stakeholders can see you and your capability. The best way is to create a BIM plan, i.e., Blend In Moment’s opportunity plan. Make the important stakeholders your mentors. Go and meet them and take their advice. Thank them. Join colleagues over a cup of tea or coffee. Talk about their interests fascinating you too. Smile and greet people on the way to your room.

Making your presence felt is your responsibility. Own it and work on it. The more you think and act as a person who is “present” the more you will matter to those who matter. Ultimately, to stand out or to look out of place, is your own choice.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025