Because presence isn't the real issue.
After years coaching executives through board presentations, C-suite transitions, and peer dynamics, I've found the missing piece isn't what they expect.
It's about developing comfort and skill with power - accumulating it, exercising it, and yes, signaling it effectively.
Many of us (especially those drawn or recommended to 'presence' work) are culturally conditioned to avoid naming power directly. We prefer 'influence,' 'collaboration,' 'impact.' But this discomfort limits us.
Making it explicit unlocks insights: how leaders experience it, exercise it, and choose to use it consciously rather than by accident.
Presence and power are inseparable:
- Presence without power is just performance
- Power without presence is blunt force
- Together, they create sustainable authority
What research reveals:
- Leaders at the top receive filtered information and lose perspective-taking ability—unless they build deliberate countermeasures
- Power isn't personality; it's a learnable skillset of behaviors and structural choices (Pfeffer's new masterclass reinforces this)
- Presence can be systematically assessed and built through specific practices (Ulrich's framework this week offers a useful checklist)
- Vulnerability and psychological safety aren't opposites of power—they're sophisticated power moves that build loyalty and unlock information flow
What actually moves the needle:
- Control the narrative architecture. Title your meetings to prime outcomes: "Co-Creation Session" vs. "Review Meeting." Frame cost-cutting as "investment optimization." Own the definitions of success before others do.
- Map and leverage structural power. Draw your stakeholder ecosystem. Who controls resources? Information? Access? Build bridges between disconnected groups—become the node others depend on.
- Signal credibility strategically. First 90 days? Overindex on competence. Established? Show selective vulnerability to build trust. Always: maintain external relationships and options.
- Engineer dissent before big decisions. Power insulates. Build devil's advocate processes, anonymous feedback channels, and skip-level conversations. The powerful move? Admitting what you don't know.
- Master the paradox. Exercise power while building psychological safety. Be decisive yet curious. Control the game while inviting others to co-create it.
With Dave Ulrich's new executive presence model and Jeffrey Pfeffer's power masterclass both launching this week, the timing feels right to address this directly.
Most leadership development downplays power dynamics. That's a costly blind spot, for leaders and their organizations.
I'm developing a program to help leaders assess and strengthen both dimensions, presence AND power.