Presence Is a Leadership Skill – Here’s How to Cultivate It
Many clients I work with want to strengthen their executive presence. I always start by asking them how they define it. I get a wide range of answers; some aren’t even sure.
To me, presence is a state of being. Executive presence is internal alignment that radiates confidence, competence, trust, and inspiration. I often describe it as a quiet presence – you can feel the person’s energy even when they’re not speaking.
In a world that teaches us to go, go, go, we’ve lost the art of presence. Some people even take pride in their ability to multi-task. But multi-tasking kills presence. True presence is about placing your full attention on just one thing: listening deeply to someone, focusing on a project, or even doing nothing at all.
To grow confidence and trust, we must first get quiet enough to slow down and listen to ourselves. What’s the dialogue in your head? Is it helpful or harmful? If it’s not serving you, what would you prefer to be saying to yourself?
A friend recently told me she spent her Saturday listening to a novel for eight hours while organizing drawers, rooms, and doing tasks around the house. A few days later, she realized she hadn’t been truly present for either activity. She was productive, but with what awareness? If she had done one thing at a time, how might her experience have changed? Would she have opened up to something new internally?
For the last 9 months, I’ve been focused on practicing presence. My practice includes doing one thing at a time, taking frequent pauses, and intentionally doing nothing. As a result, I’ve learned to slow down. And in that slowing down, I’ve discovered how sensitive I am – how much I notice what others don’t, how much I feel things that don’t even directly affect me. I’m learning to listen to what my body needs, rather than what it wants based on old habits. I’m learning to let my body guide me, which is very different from letting my head lead all the time. This is supporting me in holding better boundaries, thinking clearer and being more relaxed and less stressed.
When I coach clients, I often ask: When you’re facing a challenge, where do your thoughts go? When you’re thinking those thoughts, what do you notice in your body? The answers are often the same: Stress, tightness, a sick feeling in the stomach. We then work together to build awareness of these physical cues and create strategies for releasing tension. That might mean deep breathing, stretching, taking a walk, or simply sitting outside with no technology. These recalibration strategies are ways to return to the body and make conscious choices, instead of reacting from stress. That, too, is a presence practice.
The more we practice presence in our daily lives, the more available it becomes during times of stress and chaos. It builds inner calm and stability. I call it finding your internal anchor.
Once you begin to cultivate and consistently practice this kind of presence, it naturally strengthens your confidence, clarity, calmness, and self-trust. You begin aligning with your true self, rather than being pulled in all directions by external distractions.
The best part? It’s actually enjoyable. It invites you to slow down, to practice patience, and to truly listen to yourself. It becomes an act of self-love. This is what people feel when they sense someone has presence.
In today’s fast-paced world, this is exactly what so many of us crave.
How can you begin a presence practice?
Start small.
Choose one thing.
Do it consistently.
Notice what begins to shift inside you.