One of my biggest concerns in regards to the idea of executive presence is the big elephant in the room - I'm a woman, I'm a minority (African American) and sometimes I've sometimes questioned whether these characteristics (that I can't change) have impeded my career. I know that I'm smart and talented, but time and time again I've seen myself and many of my peers in the same situations get overlooked for career advancement opportunities and shut out of the good ole boy and sometimes even the good ole girls clubs you find in the corporate settings in my chosen field. Many who know me personally, know that I'm pretty unconventional...I've spent most of my career working in Entertainment and Media. I'm quirky, I wear my hair in a crazy afro and I'm obsessed with the worlds of pop culture, digital streaming and social media in a way that some might consider frivolous.
Most people may not know exactly how ambitious I am, especially if you take a look at the zigs and zags I've made over the course of my career. I have aspirations to make it to the
Evan mentioned in his talk that people, whom consider themselves to be a part of a minority group in some way often feel they need to change their approach to fit in (to the collective agency aka group think). I've often thought about these things myself...wondering if I should change the way I dress, my hair or even the way I speak (remind me to tell you about the time one of my former colleagues told me I sounded like Beyonce to her in another blog). But his words of advice to all of us in the room is that we need to be ourselves. Plain and simple...we have to put our own approach on things and focus on honing in on what makes us our best us. One of the quotes from Evan's talk that I loved most of all was "don't filter yourself to the point of blandness."
Evan had a few recommendations for us to get to our best us and I'll just mention a couple that resonated most with me. He recommended spending two weeks evaluating what makes us feel strong and what makes us feel weak by writing it down every time we noticed. For example yesterday I noticed that on a call with one of our clients to plan an event, the client recommended bringing in a major electronics manufacturer to giveaway their newest tablet to one of the bloggers at our event. I immediately jumped into this idea with ways to expand this idea and make it much larger (and hopefully a win-win for all sides involved by leveraging all of the marketing channels all 3 brands have at our disposal). After the end of the call I felt invigorated and in that moment I knew I was in the zone...that's what I love to do, make smart partnerships happen. In making this list over a two week period, it should allow you to really focus on identifying your biggest strengths and major weaknesses so that you can start to arrange your days in ways that you can spend more time on your strengths and minimize the time spent working in your weaknesses.
Another thing recommended by Evan is that we should be deliberate about our careers, we approach our careers in the same way that we approach a project at work, by putting together a cohesive and deliberate plan for our careers. This can involve seeking out opportunities and special projects outside of your current role (e.g. volunteer to help setup a charity outreach or mentoring organization), speaking on panels that position you as an expert in your field or simply by going outside of your peer group for ideas (e.g. talking to people who work in the medical /financial services/tech fields if you happen to work in media for innovations/ideas that could apply to you). One big tip here is to be clear and ask for what you want because putting your head down and hoping someone notices all of your hard work rarely works!!
Evan left us all with a few succinct tips on improving our executive presence at the end of his talk:
1. Write well
2. Know your shit (keep up with what's happening in your space, read the trades, etc)
3. Listen and listen wide
4. Come to meetings prepared to talk (even if it's only one prepared comment/question, etc.)
5. Become an expert and be known for something good
This talk made me realize that although I am doing some of what I need to in terms of managing my executive presence there is a great deal of room for improvement for me. I haven't quite learned how to ask for what I want. I also have to focus in on what makes me happy. I was especially pleased to hear this as a part of Evan's talk yesterday - it's an often overlooked element when you get into career discussions. We have to define and always keep in mind what makes us happy because most of us spend a great deal of time working (I know I do)!
What tips on executive presence have you heard over the years? I'd love to hear from you in the comments section on this one.
As always - thanks for taking the time to read my blog.
Mwuah,
Georgia Peach
