Executive Presence: The Missing Link Between Merit and Success

You’ve got to reach inside yourself to that place where you believe, you absolutely know, you’re eminently qualified to do the job at hand.

Complement a sophisticated look with a signature style piece or accent. For men this might be a pair of colorful socks, a playful tie, vintage cuff links, distinctive shoes, or a bold watch.

Good grooming is not just about making a polished first impression: It’s about signaling to your competitors, and yourself, that you’re in total control.

So ask for feedback. A sponsor or mentor should be able to give you a good sense of what you need to work on. Then get to work—because a lot is at stake.

I now understand that my early struggles to command attention and respect in lecture halls and faculty meetings did not center on content or delivery (I was a clear, crisp speaker and knew my material cold), but rather centered on the way I presented myself.

Signaling that “you know your stuff cold,” that you can go “six questions deep” in your domains of knowledge, is more salient than either communication (which got 28 percent of the senior executive vote) or appearance (which got a mere 5 percent).

First, communication is not so much what you say but rather how you say it.

“If I am participating in a meeting, my first communication cannot be meek,” she explains. “I do not speak up unless I have a really good point to make or insight to add. I usually wait to speak until I am prepared to make a counterpoint, or ask an insightful question.” The opposite applies, she stresses, if she’s leading the meeting. “I take charg

WHEN YOU SHOW TEETH, SHOW THAT YOU HAVE THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE TEAM AT HEART