There’s nothing mysterious about executive presence anymore. The term itself is widely used. Its importance in leadership development is largely undisputed. There is wide agreement on the components that comprise it. There has even been recognition that executive presence is, in fact, a collection of skills that can be trained, rather than an innate personality trait that some people have and other people don’t.

This is all good news, both for the people that aspire to leadership roles and for the professionals tasked with helping them develop and achieve those goals.

The one place where we still have room to grow is in the how. There are plenty of examples of what skills to build (e.g., communication, active listening, decision-making, composure under pressure, emotional intelligence, etc.) but less actionable advice on how to build them. Now that we know what executive presence is and why it’s important, what is the best way to design leadership training that builds it and makes it stick?

Why the usual approach falls short: These skills are physical.

There is a tendency to organize executive presence training in the same way that other competencies — strategic thinking or interpersonal persuasion, for example — are trained. Programs begin with awareness built out of self-assessments, 360-degree feedback from mentors and peers, learning useful frameworks and some amount of practice or role-play.

For a skill set that is primarily cognitive or intellectual based, this approach can work. But for a competency that is primarily behavioral, it’s less effective. And executive presence is a collection of practical skills, rather than a mindset.

A recent article from MIT Sloan Executive Education, “Building Executive Presence in Today’s Workplace,” identifies three components of executive presence:

• Confidence in communication
• Gravitas and the ability to inspire trust
• Emotional intelligence (EQ)

It goes on to suggest some skills that relate to each category: “communicate with clarity,” “maintain composure,” or “read the dynamics of a room.” This bridge from concept (i.e., gravitas) to goal (i.e., maintain composure) is exactly the right step to take. However, it doesn’t go far enough. The next, most crucial, step is to break that goal into concrete, repeatable behaviors.

For example, what does “composure” consist of? In practice, it might appear as a relaxed physical presence, controlled and regular breathing and the ability to tolerate silence.

The Model: Athletic Coaching

Repeatable, physical behaviors respond to training and development in largely the same way other physical skills do: a golf swing, a tennis backhand or a freestyle swim stroke. Designing an executive presence training program in the same way a golf coach would design a training program can yield behavioral change that not only lasts but also can withstand real-world workplace pressure.

Step 1: Identify Opportunities

When identifying executive presence skills gaps, assessments tend to yield a collection of adjectives and descriptors: team could use more gravitas, so-and-so lacks confidence and needs to own the room. The first step in building an executive presence training program, whether it’s for a group of learners or an individual, is to break those adjectives or descriptions down into specific, observable behaviors.

In the same way an athletic coach uses a trained eye to evaluate someone’s swing or stroke, we can identify the specific behaviors that are leading to these perceptions of a skills gap. For example:

• How fast or slow are they speaking?
• Is their physical presence relaxed and open or closed and tight?
• How much eye contact do they use to take in the audience?
• Are they in command of every word that they’re saying, or adding filler sounds and conditional language to cover thinking time?

To return to the sports metaphor, when you start working with an athletic coach, they won’t talk to you about a “smooth” stroke or a “powerful” swing. They’ll film you, break down specifically what is happening moment-to-moment in your movements and begin building a program based on those observable, concrete behaviors, rather than a general sense of what’s “good” or “bad.”

Step 2: Program Design

We can consider this metaphor from assessment through program design. In a sports clinic, you start practicing right away. Initial instructional time is generally short and moves into repetition with coaching quickly. While most executive presence training will include some practice, it often comes at the end and takes up less time than learning frameworks, reflecting and discussing.

Executive presence behaviors are physical skills that improve with practice. For executive presence programs, this means prioritizing practice over theory:

• Get participants doing early: Use baseline activities, targeted role-plays and real-world practice to help participants apply skills from the start.
• Leverage technology: Use video and audio recordings to help participants observe their own behaviors, identify areas for improvement and track their progress over time.
• Mix it up: Alternate cognitive activities, such as reading, reflection and worksheets, with physical skill-building activities, such as role-playing and repetition.

The goal is not variety for variety’s sake, but to continually reinforce that executive presence is shaped by the behaviors people demonstrate during interactions, rather than a personality trait that can be developed on its own.

Step 3: Long-Term Improvement

Any reputable athletic coach will tell you that building lasting skills requires frequent practice over time until those skills become second nature. The same is true of executive presence: Practice makes permanent. A practice plan can take many forms, but it should move past worksheets and mental exercises to give participants opportunities to apply and reinforce their skills.

• Identify low-stakes practice opportunities: Look for opportunities already on the calendar, such as internal calls, mentoring conversations and team meetings.
• Schedule and track practice: Use scheduling and tracking tools to build practice into the routine, much like a workout regimen or training plan.
• Partner for accountability: Work with an accountability partner who can provide feedback on concrete behaviors rather than relying on general adjectives or descriptors.

Most professionals are time-constrained, but executive presence practice does not necessarily require additional time on the calendar. Any interaction with another person that involves speaking and listening can become an opportunity to practice and reinforce these skills.

Why Does Executive Presence Training Matter?

Executive presence is a collection of behaviors and skills that, together, improve the quality of human interactions in the workplace. Leaders need executive presence not to tick a box on a five-year plan or because they need to “act the part.” People who are responsible for driving action, managing change and building culture do those things by communicating with their colleagues.

When a leader can show up with physical ease and a calm manner, communicate with clarity and precision in real time, and tolerate silence long enough for others to process and contribute, they create the conditions for others to perform at their best.

At its core, executive presence is a communication skill and the delivery system for a leader’s vision.