Executive Presence Is Code for One Thing

What it almost always means and a system to build it

“You need to work on your executive presence.”

Many leaders hear this at some point. It’s delivered like a clear directive, yet rarely with a clear definition. What exactly is supposed to change?

Your tone? Your posture? How you contribute in meetings?

And why does every executive seem to mean something different when they say it?

For many of my clients, this lands in the same bucket as “be more strategic” — a catch-all phrase used when someone senses a gap but can’t name it. It’s vague, subjective, and often layered with bias.

“Executive presence” is treated like a universal standard, but it’s actually a moving target. Some leaders want more decisiveness. Others want more calm. Some prefer brevity. Others want detail and context. If you tried to satisfy everyone’s preferences, you’d spend your career shape-shifting.

And for women and people from marginalized groups, this feedback often carries an extra weight. Behaviors praised in others get reframed as “abrasive,” “emotional,” or “not confident enough.” What counts as “presence” is rarely neutral.

Because the feedback is so unclear, leaders often focus on optics — adjusting how they present — instead of addressing the real issue. And the further they drift from their natural way of leading, the less grounded and effective they become.

After coaching hundreds of leaders through this, I can tell you something that reliably makes a difference.

“Executive presence” is usually code for one thing:

Your leadership brand isn’t visible to the people who need to see it.

It’s about legibility.

Your colleagues don’t fully understand how you think, what you stand for, the impact you’re driving, or how your work advances the organization. And it’s not because those things aren’t true; it’s because they aren’t visible.

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A few months ago, I worked with a senior leader who had stepped into a bigger role. She spent her first six months doing what great leaders do: she built a high-performing organization. The team was aligned, results were solid, and cross-functional partners trusted her work.

And yet, in her performance review, she was told she needed to “work on her executive presence.”

When we unpacked this, here’s what we uncovered: she had been leading with her head down, assuming her work would speak for itself. But people don’t automatically connect the dots between your work, your thinking, and your impact. And in her case, others simply didn’t have enough visibility into how she led.

She had a visibility problem.

Once she defined what she wanted to be known for, identified who needed to see her leadership, and put a simple rhythm in place to stay connected across the system, she had “executive presence.”

Presence = clarity + visibility + intention

Executive presence stops feeling mysterious when you stop treating it like a performance and start treating it like a system built on clarity, visibility, and intention.

Follow these five steps to put it into practice.

1. Define what you want to be known for

This is your leadership brand — the anchor for your presence.

Complete this prompt:

“When people think of me as a leader, I want them to think __________.”

Many seasoned leaders haven’t articulated this. When you name it clearly, everything else comes into focus.

2. Map who needs to see you clearly

Don’t confuse this for a list of people to impress. It’s about being visible to the right people.

Create a tiered stakeholder map:

• Tier 1: Mission-critical partners whose alignment directly affects your impact and the success of the business

• Tier 2: Cross-functional collaborators who need to understand your thinking

• Tier 3: People who benefit from general awareness of your work

This becomes the landscape where your presence actually matters.

3. Build a visibility rhythm that reinforces your brand

Intention and consistency are where presence is made. These are your opportunities to let people see you the way you want to be known.

You can do this through:

• Monthly 1:1s with your Tier 1 stakeholders

• Quarterly strategic updates or readouts for Tier 2

• Weekly alignment notes or touchpoints with key partners

• Showing up in meetings in a way that reflects your leadership brand

• Cross-functional conversations that demonstrate how you think and operate

When people experience you consistently, presence becomes predictable in the best possible way.

4. Connect your brand to your behavior

This is where executive presence becomes evident. Your intentional actions are the delivery system for your identity.

If your brand is “calm and decisive,” model composed decision-making when tension rises.

If your brand is “strategic and collaborative,” show how you integrate multiple perspectives into decisions.

If your brand is “people-centered and high-performing,” communicate expectations with clarity, warmth, and follow-through.

Every interaction becomes a reinforcement loop.

5. Audit your visibility

Periodically, step back and ask:

• Do the right people actually see my work?

• Do they understand my impact?

• Do they understand my thinking and approach?

If the answer to any of these is “not consistently,” where can you close the gap?

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When you define who you are as a leader and make that identity legible to the right people, your presence takes care of itself. Your colleagues start to interpret you correctly. Your work lands the way you intend it to. Decision-makers understand your thinking, not just your output.

Nothing about that requires you to pretend or posture. It simply requires intention.

You already have a leadership brand. Now the work is letting it be seen.

– Amanda

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I work with Founders & C-Suite Executives on three key levels:

• Strategic: I help you gain clarity, decisiveness, and new pathways of thinking to address the strategic challenges of the business.

• Leadership: I enable you to evolve and scale your leadership capabilities in line with what the business needs.

• Inner Work: I guide you through the inner work that allows you to truly thrive as a human being.

I offer a complimentary discovery session to assess fit. I’d love to hear from you.

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