Few ideas have had a greater influence on leadership development than leadership presence.
The phrase appears everywhere: executive coaching, succession planning, performance reviews, and leadership assessments. We’re taught that effective leadership looks a certain way. It commands attention, projects confidence, and creates followership through charisma, energy, and gravitas.
I taught leadership presence myself for years, so I understand why the idea persists.
But I’ve become less convinced that presence explains influence as well as we think it does.
Most conversations about leadership presence focus on what happens during an interaction. Did the person command the room? Did they communicate with confidence? Did people feel inspired?
Those questions matter, but they leave out something more important.
Leadership reveals itself over time.
A recent Stanford study examined hundreds of CEOs and compared their personalities to the cultures of their organizations. The findings were striking. The personalities of CEOs were strongly associated with the cultures of their companies, and those effects appeared to strengthen over time. The researchers concluded that culture often becomes a reflection of the leader’s recurring patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior.
Culture does not emerge from a memorable speech or a particularly strong meeting. It develops through repetition. What gets noticed repeatedly. What gets rewarded repeatedly. What gets questioned repeatedly. What gets ignored repeatedly.
Over time those patterns become norms.
Some of the most influential leaders in history would fail at scoring many “executive presence” points in modern leadership assessments.
Watch videos of Mother Teresa. There is nothing conventionally charismatic about her. She was physically tiny. Her speaking style was monotone. She lacked the polished executive presence that leadership experts often celebrate. And yet millions of people organized their lives around her mission.
Abraham Lincoln was described by contemporaries as awkward and gangly. Elon Musk is many things, but smooth interpersonal charisma is not generally considered one of his defining strengths.
Yet each had/has an extraordinary ability to influence human behavior at scale.
Why? Because people were not responding to presence. These leaders were able to create new beliefs. The question, then, is how leaders create belief?
One answer emerges repeatedly from the research on motivation.
Progress.
In one famous study, researchers asked thousands of workers to keep daily journals about their experiences at work. What they discovered was that the strongest driver of motivation was not compensation, it was progress. The feeling that meaningful work had been accomplished.
Likewise, one of the most demoralizing experiences was ending the day with the sense that nothing had moved forward. Human beings like to feel useful.
That insight has profound implications for leadership. A leader wanting to create beliefs celebrates progress.
Every visible sign of progress becomes evidence that success is possible. Every small win strengthens belief. Every demonstration of forward motion creates momentum. Lothar Schupet, CEO of Zeekr Europe leaned into this methodology in the startup phase of his business. A startup has fewer wins available because it is not yet selling products or generating meaningful revenue. As a result, leaders have to celebrate different kinds of progress. The launch of a website, the opening of an office, the hiring of a key employee, or the completion of an important milestone become reasons to recognize forward movement. These are not the victories a mature company would typically celebrate, but they serve an essential purpose. They give people evidence that the organization is moving closer to its goals.
And momentum is far more powerful than charisma.
Elsewhere in Culture
This week on CEO Daily Brief:
Likable, Capable, or Aligned? with John Frehse
We talk a lot about hiring for capability and quietly optimize for likability. John and I unpack why both can lead us astray and why alignment to the mission may be the factor leaders overlook most. Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ceo-daily-brief-with-dr-jessica-kriegel/id1725350421?i=1000772774892 Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/episode/0hFllXSnSpG73FeyHbatP4?si=0c6362214dac4b84
Real Quick with John Frehse
When did “real quick” become permission to speak? John and I unpack the workplace psychology behind minimizing our own ideas and what our obsession with speed may be costing us. Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ceo-daily-brief-with-dr-jessica-kriegel/id1725350421?i=1000772940322 Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/episode/4B7Rv2yJcKIYINZczRIiQi?si=9f8aed7fec9341f0
Change the Experience
Leaders often spend too much time managing communication and not enough time managing experience. In this episode, I explore the moments that shape trust, the ones that quietly erode it, and why experience is often the thing people remember most. Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ceo-daily-brief-with-dr-jessica-kriegel/id1725350421?i=1000773097847 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6JBiBk8YeqccPp8KKEFs5V?si=de1e64e64a3e481f
And coming later this week…
Are You Post-Social Media?
The internet feels different right now. In this episode, I explore whether algorithms are replacing connection, what gives away AI-generated content, and whether constant visibility is still worth chasing.
Compliance vs. Curiosity with John Frehse
Most organizations say they want innovation. Fewer create environments where curiosity feels safe. John and I debate whether workplaces are rewarding learning or simply rewarding compliance.