The Scope and Extent of Executive Presence : I have recently witnessed a debate, a discussion to be more precise, on what executive presence is and what its characteristics are. One of the participants expressed that it is often misunderstood and people in general tend to associate it with middle management or senior management. He pointed to the possibility of even employees having and exhibiting this trait. As a management graduate, after further reflection, I felt like expressing my stand on this. Right now, I don’t have the intention of dwelling deep into the definition and character of the trait in question because there is already enough literature available on the subject. But I would like to examine the prospect of executive presence among employees.
Most sources, it may be noted, name executive presence among the top five of what we call leadership qualities. And I don’t think there can be much of a debate about the its legitimacy of being a member of the leadership family. If we look at the way organizations function, we can broadly identify two domains namely design and execution. It is possible to identify a third too called audit, but it’s redundant in the present context. It is rather obvious that design has more to do with leadership and creativity whereas execution is essentially about compliance with the framework given.
When we talk about employees who are capable of exhibiting the quality concerned, we are referring to those who add more value to the organization by extending and expanding the given framework for the better by applying the originality of their thoughts and ideas. When we say there are ‘some’ employees capable of exhibiting executive presence, the clear implication is that it does not happen with every employee. In other words, majority of employees can’t be expected to possess this quality. Why is that so? I think it is because the word ’employee’ basically conjures up the image of someone who has unquestioning obedience towards the framework given. The best employees are those who comply blindly. It then follows that if there is an employee with EP, he, in all probability, is not likely to make a good employee, at least notionally.
I believe executive presence is grounded in awareness. I mean, one can’t possess it and be unaware of it. I, therefore, think that those employees with it shall invariably have an unstoppable urge from within to become leaders eventually. They can never make the so called ‘loyal’ employees who are content to retire in the same position in which they were appointed in the same organization. As such, I would like to say that if an employee is found to have executive presence, the best course would be to send him for career counseling.