In part three, Templar consultant Carolina Perez Sanz explores gravitas, the backbone of executive presence. Gravitas – weight in Latin – was one of the virtues the Romans expected of leaders. They understood it as seriousness, dignity, and commitment to the mission. This metaphorical quality of heaviness correlates with the steady energy, deliberate movements, and non-reactiveness characteristic of high-status people.
Decoding executive presence – part 1
In this three-part series on Executive Presence, Templar consultant Carolina Perez Sanz identifies the critical elements that can undermine your leadership presence – the dissonant ‘noise’ that may blur your message. Removing this noise enables you to broadcast a clear signal: trust me to execute.
Three ways your smartphone will ruin your meetings
Is your smartphone within reach while you’re working to solve a difficult problem? Do you keep it on the table when you’re meeting clients? Combining her research into leadership with studies about smartphone use in the workplace, Templar consultant Carolina Perez Sanz, shows how we lose the ability to focus, suffer a decline in cognitive performance and most importantly, become untrustworthy to colleagues and clients.
Presence: Balancing warmth and strength in banking
Presence is a balance between warmth and strength. Like any balancing act, this can be tricky – easy to tip in favour of one aspect or the other. Indeed, it depends on the situation, the context and the personalities involved. Planning and preparation will play a part, but so does agility, flexibility and the confidence to adapt in the moment.
Female leaders and the agreeableness paradox
In your relationship with other people, do you take into consideration how they may feel about what you do and say to them? Can you read people well and approach them in ways that generate the best outcome for them? Do you make sure that everybody agrees and is happy with your decisions? Effective leaders need the right amount of Interpersonal Sensitivity. Too much, and they’ll compromise the team’s objectives; too little, and they’ll demotivate their followers.
