Executive Presence, Revisited: How Leadership Is Being Felt, Not Just Seen

By WOI+ Editorial

Executive presence has long been regarded as a mark of leadership readiness; a blend of confidence, poise, and communication skill. It’s often assessed by how someone carries themselves in a room, how they speak under pressure, and whether they inspire trust. But while the concept is familiar, the way we define and recognize executive presence is beginning to shift.

Traditionally, executive presence was closely tied to external cues: steady tone, polished appearance, and confident delivery. These qualities were often interpreted as signs of leadership potential. And yet, in today’s evolving workplaces, this framing is starting to feel incomplete.

That’s because executive presence has sometimes reflected a narrow archetype — often unintentionally. Leaders who spoke with authority, remained composed, and fit a certain mold were more easily recognized for having “presence.” Others, especially those with quieter or more relational styles, were sometimes overlooked. Not because they lacked presence, but because their way of leading didn’t match the prevailing template.

Sylvia Ann Hewlett, in her book Executive Presence: The Missing Link Between Merit and Success, identifies three core elements of executive presence: gravitas, communication, and appearance, with gravitas being the most critical. In her 2024 Harvard Business Review article, “The New Rules of Executive Presence,” Hewlett discusses how the concept has evolved, highlighting the growing importance of qualities like empathy, adaptability, and emotional intelligence in today’s leadership landscape.

Reframing Presence for Today’s Context

At its essence, executive presence is about trust. It’s the sense that someone can lead with steadiness, hold space for complexity, and bring clarity during moments of uncertainty.

Today, this presence is less about projection and more about resonance. It’s not just how someone speaks, but how they listen. Not just how they present, but how they relate. Stakeholders are seeking transparency, not polish. Teams want to follow leaders who show both conviction and care.

According to Deloitte’s 2024 Global Human Capital Trends report, organizations are recognizing the need to prioritize human-centered leadership qualities — empathy, adaptability, and emotional intelligence — to build resilience and trust in today’s dynamic work environment. However, many still rely on traditional markers like vocal projection and physical presence to assess executive potential, which may not fully capture the capabilities required for effective leadership in the modern workplace.

A Grounded Approach to Executive Presence

Rather than learning executive presence as a script, today’s leaders are being called to cultivate it as a practice. Here’s what that might look like:

1. Develop Emotional Clarity: The most grounded leaders know what they’re feeling and why. They communicate from a place of emotional regulation, not reactivity. Clarity builds steadiness, and steadiness builds trust.

2. Build Voice, Not Volume: Effective leaders don’t need to dominate a room, they know how to speak with precision and presence. They say more with less and let the strength of their ideas carry their message.

3. Hold Dual Awareness: Presence is the ability to navigate tension: between goals and people, urgency and care. Leaders who can move fluidly between these dynamics model maturity and flexibility.

4. Create Psychological Safety: Research from McKinsey shows that teams with psychological safety perform better. Leaders who create environments of trust empower others to step into their own presence and potential.

5. Practice Reflective Visibility: Being visible doesn’t mean being performative. It means choosing when and how to show up with intention — amplifying your work, celebrating others, and letting consistency speak on your behalf.

6. Align Inner and Outer Worlds: Presence is most powerful when it feels authentic. When a leader’s values, voice, and actions align, people take notice, not just of what they say, but how they carry it.

Final Thought

Executive presence doesn’t have to be theatrical, rigid, or prescriptive. At its best, it’s the outcome of integrity in motion: a leader whose inner clarity supports their outer impact.

As our definitions of leadership evolve, so should our expectations of presence. It’s not something you master once, it’s something you deepen over time. When it’s real, it doesn’t fade when the meeting ends. It lingers. And the people around you feel more capable, more steady, simply because you were there.