A True Leader Has Presence

This work is about the critical role “presence” plays in leadership. After many years of executive management, I came to believe that true leaders were different than good leaders. Working with and being managed by some very talented true leaders I realized that difference was — presence. Some people and some books claim that leaders are born not created. I don’t buy that —completely. Leadership is not built into your DNA. However, aspects of your personality are part of your chromosome string. Personality is one of many elements in the development of presence. It’s my contention and the subject of this book that presence is the driving force behind leadership. Therefore I believe DNA does play a role, but only one small role. To be clear, my definition of presence, as depicted in this book is, “Something the person who has it knows they have it deep inside their being. The person who is in the presence (the other definition) of someone who has it can sense the presence in that individual.” Did you ever play a sport and could tell almost immediately who was the leader of the team? Was that leader the coach? Did you ever go to a party or join a group and could tell almost immediately who was the leader of the group? Was he or she the life of the party or the designated group leader? Did you ever join a new department in your company and could tell almost immediately who was the leader of the department? Was that leader the department head? The answer to the first question in each paragraph is usually yes. The answer to the second question in each paragraph is many times no. How could it be that the identified leader might not be the coach, group leader or the department head? The answer is that “A True Leader Has Presence” — not who has the big stick or title of authority. The objective of this book is to identify the building blocks that create presence and how the reader can make them their own.