LinkedIn Learning - Executive Presence: Tips for Women by Selena Rezvani

I started using LinkedIn Learning as part of my direct reports' quarterly objectives in Q2.  I initially logged in to see what courses were available for my team, when I realized that I should also be taking advantage of the courses for my own development.

The course I assigned myself is "Executive Presence: Tips for Women" by Selena Rezvani.  Divided into short ~3 minute sessions, the training is easily consumable.  Takeaways parallel concepts discussed in Playing Big by Tara Mohr.

- Executive Presence: I've never thought too much of 'executive presence' and what it means.  When I lived on Capitol Hill, I walked by Sen. John Kerry during an early morning commute.  We were the only two people on the street, and his presence and stride struck me in that even if I had not known who he was, I knew he was an important man.

The definition of executive presence is: Ability to project authority while communicating with confidence and authenticity. 

That projection of authority is what John Kerry possessed through his body language.  It's an intangible concept yet very palpable and real.  It transform being perceived as a solid performer to a stand out performer.

- Meetings: I struggle with contributing in meetings.  I am very much an introvert and need time to ruminate before making sense of things.  At the same time, I know I need to become more vocal in meetings to be an effective leader.

Tips provided for meetings is to think:

WHAT stands out?

SO WHAT why does it matter?
NOW WHAT have a point of view

- Delivery of Ideas: Tell it so you sell it.  Speak with authority. Move from permission seeking or unsure language to strong or decisive language.

1. instead of if, use when

2. instead of would or could, use should or will

3. instead of can (permission seeking), use let's

- Power Mantras: Counter Inner Critic, be intentional about internal thoughts, have constructive inner dialogue
    -> I 400% belong here   

    -> I take bold action instead of fear

    -> If I take a wrong turn, I can right myself

    -> If it's meant to be, it's up to me

This will help quiet the pachad and allow me to lean into my yirah.

- Body Language: More presence, in control

    -> Make an entrance, shoulders back

    -> Take up space -> take up entire chair, gesture naturally, plant feed wide when standing

    -> Hand gestures -? use to reinforce what I'm saying

- Act Decisively - Executives are decisive, make decisions.  no one knows the answer

    -> Practice making decisions & sticking to them/following through

    -> Make decisions public, will put people at ease/people do not like uncertainty

    -> Wrong decision better than indecision

- Recover Quickly for Mistakes: Still have executive presence if make a mistake

    -> Own it, take responsibility succinctly (e.g. that didn't come out as I intended, let me refrain)

    -> Don't over explain

    -> Segway to subject I know well, main point I want to leave people with

    -> Forgive myself

Playing Big: Meet Betty

Visualization is a common practice for elite athletes while vision boards are a popular concept to realizing and achieving goals.  Playing Big's version of these constructs is the Inner Mentor.

The Inner Mentor is your future self, 20 years from now.  "This is the very heart of playing bigger: having the vision of a more authentic, fully expressed, free-from-fear you and growing more and more into her, being pulled by this resonant vision rather than pushing to achieve markers of success."

To tap the wisdom and guidance of the inner mentor, Playing Big provides a set of questions & meditative exercise.  When I did the exercise, I was surprised that at the forefront of my mind was that Mia would be a well-adjusted young woman; confident, fulfilled (as much as you can be in your 20s), and kind.

Given that the reason for doing the exercise was because of the Leadership Development Program, I expected my focus to be my career & professional life, not my personal life.

Given that preamble, meet Betty, my Internal Mentor.

She lives in a contemporary (but not too modern), compact house in a semi-urban area.  There is a nice front garden, with the entrance of the house or townhouse leading to open spaces on the first floor.  The kitchen is large with a sit-down island, and adjoining living and dining room areas. 

There is a fireplace, and sliding doors to a deck and fenced in backyard where there is a small vegetable and spice garden.  The bedrooms and studies are upstairs, with a third floor has an office area connected to a deck for Richard.

The desk where she works is a nook within the house.  She has a small office that she uses for crafts.

Betty dresses comfortably, in structured and stylish pieces.  She wears minimal makeup and jewelry.  She runs three miles every other day.

She is involved in non-profit work that supports the Asian community, focusing on empowerment of the next generation, the children of immigrants.  Whether through a non-profit like BCNC or through local colleges like Bunker Hill or UMASS Boston.

First Meeting Meditation

The advise Betty gives me in our first meeting about Mia is simple: to spend more (quality) time with her, not just playing and reading, but also creating and making things together. To let Mia express her creativity and to develop her imagination.

She also told me to better support Richard, to not repeat myself and continually make a point that Richard may agree with, but not necessarily embrace for himself.  To list, engage and be open.

For my career, the answer to what do I need to do to get to where I want to be, is to just do it.  To just start being productive and contributing like I know I can.

Betty's parting gift to me is a cross-stitch piece that she had created.

Needless to say, Betty is unhooked from criticism and praise.

CliftonStrengths

As I was taking the CliftonStrengths assessment & going through questions, I realized that I don't think strategically enough.  I don't take enough time to think about why something is important or what the solution should look like.  Instead, I focus on doing things: handling high volumes of request and managing multiple initiatives each week at work.  I did not need the test results to tell me this.

My focus is more on not dropping the ball, maintaining a high through put of work, and not taking a step back to think about, what is the right thing to do? 

In any given week, there are ~10 initiatives (some discrete) that I juggle and push forward, even if incrementally.  There are three main people I take direction from (CTO, CAA, SVP Engineering), two direct reports I actively manage to improve their skills and two business analysts I push to get them trained on Power BI to automate the myriads of manual processes we have built into some of our Excel reports.

When something is presented to me, I automatically think about how things are going to get done and how it would be prioritized against everything else that is going on.  I need to change my way of thinking to slow down, think about the right solution strategically, then go into implementation/uber doer mode...

I read a quote once about how Managers think about what needs to be done.  Leaders think about what important things needs to be done.  To make time in my schedule to do this thinking, I plan to block out some time on my calendar each Monday afternoon to think about goals and strategies.  This will give me time to determine what I want to focus on for the week before the week itself gets too hectic.

Results of my assessment:

A common theme for Blind Spots associated with my high-ranking profiles is not taking the time to explain things.  In meetings, I've realized that I can confuse people by jumping right into the agenda and not taking the time to take a step back to frame the discussion.  I do this since I don't want to 'waste' people's time, but need to realize that background, explaining the agenda I put together/the thinking that led to the agenda is useful information and will help (my woefully low) Influence theme.

For example, Arranger Blind Spots: Your tendency to continually reorganize tasks, projects and people might confuse others.  Take time to explain your approach and how it can work better.

Assume control without asking can discourage others from taking responsibility.  (Instead of taking control so that things get done faster, I should inspire others to take control.  I should ask questions even if I have an answer.  I should slow down.)

Harmony Blind Spot: Allow others to express their ideas fully before bring them to task at hand.  Recognize and accept there will be conflict.

Strategic Blind Spots: Evaluate patterns so quickly, others may not follow or understand thought process.  Be aware that sometimes you have to background and explain how you got there (note to myself: without being exasperated...)

Restorative Blind Spot: Tend to focus on processes, not people and rush to solve every problem.  Sometimes others need to solve their own problems, so try to give people space to experiment and find their own solutions.

I don't like to waste time.  My attitude tends to be to make a decision, and do something, even if it's not the perfect solution, it will be movement/change.  However, I need to realize taking the time to think about the bigger picture and to explain decisions are *not* wastes of time.  But critical in building my influencing and leadership skills.

As part of slowing down, I should also share my preferences with people and don't assume they instinctively know.  (Blind Spot for Individualization)

I was surprised that Achiever ranked number 5 for me.  It describes me to a T.  Innately, I'm an Achiever, but because of my career in program management, Relationship Building themes like Individualization and Relator have strengthened despite me being a massive introvert and painfully shy as a child.  I'm also surprised that the Execution-related profiles did not rank higher: Discipline (20), Focus (24) and Deliberate (25) since these traits describe my mindset well.

As my tendency, my focus is on how I can improve, my weaknesses, rather than my strengths.  I take my strengths for granted and truly believe that my strengths are 'basic' along the lines of, "well, isn't everybody like this?"...  But no, not everyone is like me...

I can make BIG things happen. 

My strengths are efficiency, bringing out the best in people: "You have the natural ability to coordinate people and resources for maximum effectiveness.  Your creative flexibility in complex situations leads to greater efficiency."  This is huge!  I'm able to drive and execute on initiatives not only within the Technology department, but also across senior leadership team for Return to Office.

I've received unsolicited praise from four C-level/GM colleagues on how I have been able to structure and drive our company's preparation for Return to Office during COVID-19.

I have an innate ability to figure out how different people can work together productivity, to identify strengths and weaknesses, and get the most/best out of people.  I am able to synthesize complex problems with multiple facets into manageable/consumable pieces and from milestones to people, piece things together to drive and execute.  I can put structure around incomplete or complex ideas.

I get overwhelmed at the immensity of tasks in the beginning, but don't let it deter me.  From handling Musician's Friends account in a past life to working on a Crisis Management initiative that was an output of a BOD meeting, I do rise to the occasion and have to remind myself that being intimidated at first is natural and not anything I need to hide, but instead, embrace.

I self-manage and take the initiative.  I naturally look to improve upon things without being prompted.  I absorb information quickly, culling out patterns and key concepts.  I constantly communicate status and believe in 100% transparency, even when I have made a mistake or bad decision.

Takeaways:

* Block off time on my calendar to focus on strategic thinking, what are the important things I want to accomplish this week, month, quarter?

* Slow down, rethink things I consider a 'waste' of time, don't get annoyed when people go off topic/off agenda

* Celebrate each success, take breaks even if able to work longer & harder than others

* Remind myself that I make BIG things happen