2023-09-21 - Risk in Executive Presence

3. Present your ideas with conviction, emphasizing your main points. Your credibility will increase as you learn to drive your points home.

embracing a bias for action that values diverse perspectives.

This presents an interesting balance. One that I struggle with often. Lead with humility, yet with confidence. Then, mix in the juxtaposition of valuing diverse perspectives while confidently emphasize and drive main points home.

Is it possible to do both? Likely. As with most things, positioning, posture, and perspective all matter.

Positioning

Where is your position in the organization? With whom are you speaking? What are you speaking about? Is it a collaborative, brain-storming environment or are you presenting? It seems that posture matters differently in those situations.

Posture

Again, similar to above, posture is dependent on the goals of the encounter. In front of the board, I want to lead with confidence. In leading my team, I want humble, yet driven action.

Perspective

What people think and feel is actually reality. I think I can exude humility while still displaying confidence in the ideas. Confidence is not the enemy of humility, arrogance is.