November 2015 - Aurora Coaching

In my last post I talked about the first principle of having a greater
impact and

leadership presence – how you show up as a leader.

Right now I want to build on that and share the second principle –
purpose.

I see so many leaders simply ‘going through the motions’ – ‘doing what
they have always done’ and wondering why they didn’t get the results they
wanted.

This is why purpose is important.

Purpose is all about your
intention in any situation – being clear about what you want to achieve.

How often do you go into a meeting with a very clear intention of what
you want to achieve from it?

If your answer is less than 100%, then there is some work to be done
here.

As a leader you are on show all of the time and people are always
watching you.

You are judged by the impact you have on others.

We all judge others on what they say, what they do and how they act, and
yet we judge ourselves by our intentions.

To be an effective leader your actions have got to match your
intentions.

If you aren’t clear then the chances of the person on
the receiving end understanding are pretty slim. If you are thinking one thing and saying
another people pick up on this.

What is his intention?

When you are clear about your intention your mind and body are
connected, how you act and what you say will be completely congruent.

Let me tell you why this is important.

Leadership is about connection, so you need to make sure you connect in
some way with everyone you meet – and yes I did say everyone.

You have to take the other person into consideration to connect. Some
questions you may want to ask yourself are:

What is your current relationship with them?
What history is there between you (or their department)?
How do you want this relationship to develop?

So how do you want to be influencing your relationships with
others?

Once you are clear on this you can then consider your
intentions for the meeting you are going to have with them.

Setting an intention

Here are a few examples of things you could consider as intentions:

Is it simply to connect and build rapport with the
person – believe me that is a good intention to have – remember presence is…what others sense and feel
when they are with you.
Is there a particular result you want from this
meeting?
Is there a system, structure or process you want
to review, put in place, or agree?
Is there something you want to learn?
Is this a topic you simply want to understand?
If so what is it that you want to
learn/understand?
Is there an idea you want to share and get some
feedback on?

These are just some examples to consider and I’m sure you’ll
come up with your own.

Being really clear about your intention helps you focus your
mind and your energy.

I know you’ll have many meetings every week, so here is an
exercise for you.

Here is what I’d like you to experiment with:

First set an intention for every meeting you go to. Yes!
Every meeting.
Second consider how you want to be seen.
And then put this into practice.

Now, if the thought of doing this for every meeting sends
you into panic – good! This is about doing things differently and consistently
as consistent action gets consistent results. Force yourself to try this out
and see what happens.

This is simply to raise your own awareness of how you show
up as a leader, so you can have a greater impact and presence.

Send me an email
to let me know how you get on.

“What you think you become.”

Buddha

More and more leaders
are asking me to work with them to develop their presence and personal impact.

What I’ve noticed is
they are typically faced with these 3 challenges:

1.
They’ve been
told that you need to develop a greater presence yet no-one has given you any
idea how you’re supposed to do this, or what specifically you need to do.

2.
They are
mixing with the right people but can’t seem to get the airtime or their
attention to get your message across.

3.
They have way too
much to do and don’t have time to spend on developing your presence, after all
that’s not going to get the job done!

When I ask anyone what
leadership presence is they often struggle to define it and yet they know it’s
important.

The truth is no one really
teaches this stuff… until now.

For me there are 4 key
principles needed to develop an authentic presence that will allow you to:

·
Get the air-time
and attention of the people you need too,

·
Influence
others and take them with you, and

·
Be seen as a calm
and credible leader

I’ve developed a
framework around these 4 principles, all equally important and necessary if you
want to be successful. You can come back to them time and time again as you
progress through your career.

Today, I want to share
the first element – how you physically show up as a leader.

You are on show all of
the time and people are always watching you and making assessments. Whether you
like it or not you set the tone and standards for those around you.

So it’s not good enough
to just ‘show up’ and hope for the best.

Whether you like it or
not you are judged by the impact you have on others.

People are watching how
you act, how you walk, how you sit and how you talk…it’s therefore the quality
of your visibility that counts.

It’s the quality you
bring to any situation and how you actually present yourself that matters.

This is the foundation
piece for presence and impact.

Here’s an example.

I was working with a
Board Director; let’s call him Joe. He recognised he’d got more and more drawn
into tactical issues and had lost the influence he once had.

When I first met him
what I saw was someone who looked frail, ‘mouse like’, and seemed to be making
himself look small and blend in.

He certainly didn’t look
like a Board Director who owned his agenda let alone his own space.

In just one session we
worked on his posture. How he walked and how he filled his own his space. I
encouraged him to pay attention to this in meetings and as he walked around the
office.

When I next saw him I
hardly recognized him. He looked taller. He was walking more confidently and
appeared much more comfortable in his own skin. He told me how practicing these
subtleties were paying off in his approach to managing meetings and leading
discussions.

So why have I chosen to
share this particular story?

LEADERSHIP PRESENCE IS
HOW OTHERS EXPERIENCE YOU!

It’s what others sense
and feel when they are with you, how you project confidence and credibility.

It’s reflected in the
quality of the relationships you build, the levels of safety and trust that
people feel when they are with you, and in the working environment that you
create.

When you get it right
this ‘presence’ resonates with, stabilises, and influences others.

So, as presence is
something that we experience I thought you might like a little exercise to
assess your own presence.

This is an opportunity
to raise your awareness of how YOU show up and how that feels to you.

As I’ve already
mentioned presence is a felt sense of who you are and how you come across. We
often don’t take time to get a sense of this for ourselves.

Let’s start with paying
attention to your posture.

Over the next few days
start to notice:

How you are walking.

Are you leaning forward?
How are you holding your
shoulders? Are they rolled forward or hunched up?
Do you walk fast or
slow?
Where are you looking?
Do you look around you or at the floor?

When you are in a meeting or at your desk..

How are you sitting?
What are you doing with
your feet, do you have your legs crossed or are your feet planted firmly on the
floor?
How are you sitting on
the chair? Are you taking up the whole seat, sitting on the edge, or are you
leaning to one side?
In meetings what are you
doing with your hands? Are you doodling, fidgeting, working on your computer,
or do you have them resting on the table?

These are just a few
things to look out for and you may notice others.

What I’d like you to do
is make a note of what you observe and ask yourself these 3 questions:

1.
What word
would others use to describe you right now?

2.
Is this how
you want to be described?

3.
If not, how do
you want to be seen instead?

It’s a simple exercise
and I just want you to observe yourself and make any adjustments you think will
help.

Leadership starts with
self-awareness.

I hope you get some
great insights and I look forward to connecting with you soon.

If you’d like to explore
how you can develop your own leadership presence further email
me and we can set up a call to explore this further.

‘There is more wisdom
in your body than in your deepest philosophy.’

Friederich Nietzsche

Entries from November 2015

How successful are you at creating the right impact as a leader?

How are you showing up as a leader?