Erica: Hey, girl. By now, you know I have Her Collective, my online community for ambitious women who are done doing it alone. Her Collective is for the women who are smart, capable, and driven, but they find themselves stuck on the sticky floors like self doubt, burnout, and waiting for permission that quite honestly never comes. Inside HER, you get more than motivation. You get real support, real strategies, and real momentum.

Erica: We work on things like clarifying what you want now and what's coming next, building confidence without burning yourself out, navigating hard conversations, career moves, and leadership moments with clarity, and surrounding yourself with women who actually get it. This isn't about hustling harder. It's about moving intentionally with the right tools and the right people in your corner. If you're ready to stop spinning, start choosing yourself, and build a career in life that actually feels aligned, I'd love to welcome you inside her collective. You can learn more and join us at www.joinhercollective.com.

Erica: Because honestly, girl, you were never meant to do this alone. Have you ever been told that you need to work on your executive presence? Or maybe someone mentioned to you that your demeanor comes across as too informal or that you may need to work on striking the right balance between approachability and authority. Honestly, there's a million ways that I have seen people skirt around this topic of executive presence. Presence.

Erica: It's almost as if you either have it or you don't. One thing is for sure, without it, you will not get far up that corporate ladder. So what the hell is it and how can you cultivate it? How do you establish executive presence while maintaining authenticity? I've certainly been there.

Erica: It feels like this balancing act. So I wanna tackle this topic head on so that we can elevate ourselves to the highest rung of the corporate ladder. Executive presence is not just a buzzword. It's about walking into a room, taking a seat at the table, and owning your space. It's about projecting confidence and making a lasting impact.

Erica: But here's the deal. Women face unique obstacles when it comes to executive presence. Some people doubt our assertiveness or they misinterpret our emotions, but we cannot let that stop us now, can we? So today, we will talk about how you can build up your executive presence so that you can lead with authenticity and showcase your true personality and strengths like the badass leader that you are.

Erica: So what the hell is this elusive executive presence anyways? When I'm coaching others, I always ask them for their personal definition because everyone's definition differs. It's like success. Everyone has their own definition of what success looks like. But if we break it down executive presence is what encompasses the qualities and the characteristics of a leader.

Erica: Someone who projects confidence, they project authority and credibility. It's this ability to inspire and influence others, the ability to make an impact on the organization and everyone around it. It is a skill that anyone who is growth minded needs and yet research has revealed that there's a perception gap when it comes to women and executive presence. I know. What the fuck?

Erica: Right? But it probably doesn't surprise you. Gender bias and unconscious bias play a huge part in this because when you think of an executive, most people probably initially envision a man. It's not uncommon for women to encounter stereotypes and these kinds of biases that actually keep them from being recognized from a leader, they're everywhere. Other biases that we could encounter could be lack of assertiveness, likability concerns, or being labeled overly emotional.

Erica: And I don't know about you, but that one just gets under my skin y'all. To have emotions is to be human. I'm not saying that it isn't essential that you're able to manage your emotions. It's certainly not cool to have an outburst in the middle of a meeting if you disagree with somebody. But I've seen just as many men as I have women not effectively manage their emotions.

Erica: But anyways, let's dive in here. I wanna expand on these biases because I've got a great story to tell. And it's a story that was told on this podcast earlier by my friend, Denise. She's a successful woman. She's driven, and she was once a CEO that went to a meeting with an external group.

Erica: And one of the men in that other group, they walked in. They didn't know who she was. And the man literally didn't even look at her, just handed her his coat and said, coffee. I'll take it black. Y'all, he just assumed that she was the assistant.

Erica: What in the absolute heck? I absolutely died when she told me this. But these biases don't stop here. Women experience what is called the double bind dilemma, where assertive behavior is too aggressive, but empathetic and nurturing behavior is too soft and too weak. So we're constantly left feeling like we have to walk this tight thin line and strike the right balance.

Erica: Now what I have found to be a guaranteed way to master executive presence is to simply be yourself, to be authentic, which means that you've got to squash that sticky floor of self doubt, that sticky floor of feeling like an imposter. You deserve to be there. You deserve that seat at the table. And while there is that phrase, what got you here won't get you there, it's true, but it did get you here. Now the key takeaway here is to own your shit.

Erica: Be confident as hell. You need to have the right body language. You need to be appreciative and project authority all at the same time. But if you let your true self shine through, that will happen naturally. Now you know that I love some tangible tips and I love to give you actions that you can follow through on today so here we go first of all you have to have strong communication skills effective communication is a cornerstone of executive presence.

Erica: You have to be able to articulate your ideas clearly and confidently. K? Number two, make sure you have your listening ears turned on. Yes. I'm talking like I'm talking to my kids, but those listening ears need to be on full blast.

Erica: Active listening is something that you have to practice daily and it will help you understand others better. It will help you engage in meaningful conversations and honestly if you can't listen how do you even know what some of those issues are that you're trying to solve? The third thing when it comes to executive presence is to be mindful of your body language. Your body language communicates so much about your confidence, your focus, your presence. So make sure you're making eye contact, make sure you're focused on the conversation, you're nodding your head appropriately to show that you're listening, and just think about that for a second.

Erica: If you've ever been in a room and the CEO or the stakeholder is looking at their phone or glancing out the window, you don't feel seen. You don't feel heard. So your body language is critical to your executive presence. The fourth thing, and this is a big one, is seek feedback and coaching on the regular. I cannot stress this enough.

Erica: Get you somebody that can help you develop your skills and give you that precise example of gaps that you displayed throughout your week. You see, it's one thing to sit here and have me say have strong communication skills, have a good body language, make sure you're listening. It's another thing if you have somebody who you work with who sees you interact on the regular that can say, hey, Erica, in that meeting, I noticed that you were glancing around and you didn't appear to be listening. You know, we weren't really sure if you were paying attention. That person can call you out on your shit and can help you hone your executive presence.

Erica: And then the last thing that is paramount to being someone who has executive presence is to lead with integrity. What do I mean by that? I mean be consistent in your actions and your decision making. Make sure that those actions align with what you said that you would do or what you said you would not do. Now, this shows others that you were credible, and that, my friend, is what makes you a true leader.

Erica: Now, remember y'all, executive presence isn't about trying to fit into a specific mold. It's about being authentic while exuding confidence and authority. People respond to leaders who are genuine. If you continuously work on these tangible aspects that I just went over while staying true to yourself and your core values, you will naturally strengthen that executive presence. Now before we leave, I want to share this one story, but I once did a three sixty review with my executive team as part of a leadership training course.

Erica: I had really positive feedback for 99.9% of the review. And I'm not saying, hey, Erica. You're great. Everything's wonderful. But I mean, like, actionable, really good feedback.

Erica: But one comment that I got stood out, and that comment was that if I had toned down my message, I would be received better by others. And that crushed me. Y'all, I am an enthusiastic person. I'm an outgoing, friendly, dynamic, and, yes, often loud person, but that feedback made me feel that I had to shrink myself. It made me feel like I wasn't fitting into this perfect executive box that I needed to fit into if I was gonna be a successful executive.

Erica: But one thing that I tell everybody is that not all feedback is good feedback. And that feedback, y'all, it was trash. I am extra. I know it. And I also know that I'm not a buffet.

Erica: I am not here to serve everybody. But my extra ness is what got me into that executive role, and it is a very large piece of who I am. So while you're out there seeking feedback and you are honing your executive presence, remember that you do not need to mold yourself to fit someone else's idea of who you should be or what an executive looks like. I want you to be who you came to be. I want you to be you.

Erica: Now, by emphasizing your authenticity, you can and you will cultivate your own leadership style that is genuine, relatable, and aligned with who you are at your core and that my friend is executive presence now stop putting a ceiling on what is possible and start breaking through them y'all Thank you so much for tuning in today and sharing your time with me. Make sure that you're following me on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and all the socials for more content just like this. And send me a message. I would love to hear from you. I'll talk to you soon, friend.