Executive Presence for CFOs in China Part 3 of 3 : Executive Connections

This is part 3 of a three part posting on building executive presence. For part 1 please click here.

For part 2 read here.

Executive presence can be created by looking at it from three perspectives : executive credibility, positive image projection and executive connections. This posting will look at the third perspective:

Executive connections

While executive presence can seem like an intangible quality, it is essential for a leader to influence and motivate their team. One of the greatest assets that President Bill Clinton had as a leader was his ability to make every person he spoke with feel like they were special and that he really cared about them and what was on their mind. In a world of emails, text messages and tweets, it’s important to remember the power of personal connection.

Executive presence can be divided into competencies and one key competency is “connecting”. Executives need to project warmth to their stakeholders and especially stay accessible to their direct reports. This can be challenging for executives from technical disciplines where the focus tends to be on task rather than people. Some executives benefit from support in self-awareness using assessment centers and 360 degree feedback from their directs, peers and managers. This shows their relative strengths and behaviors that may need further development.

For example, a finance executive who needs to develop more client relationships found that their natural preference was to focus on procedures and standards. In fact, this behavior helped them become a fantastic finance manager. The executive realized that they would never be a charismatic, super-outgoing, and life-of-the-party executive, so she decided to hold small presentations for key potential clients to introduce new and changing regulations. Her ability to simply and clearly explain these changes was greatly appreciated and lead to further business opportunities. All executives should build from their strengths to create their own unique executive presence.

While life in the executive suite focuses on business strategy and numbers, building executive presence in key roles, like CFO, is essential to maintain the reputation, credibility and success of the firm. In key and complex markets, like China, this becomes a necessity rather than a nice-to-have.

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Warwick John Fahy coaches senior finance executives to influence key stakeholders, like clients, regulators, and investors with the Wheel of Influence. 

Warwick is the author of the acclaimed book, The One Minute Presenter – 8 steps to successful business presentations in a short attention span world.

Copyright 2010 Warwick John Fahy All rights reserved.