Welcome back to the Look and Sound of Leadership, an ongoing series of executive

coaching tips designed to help you be perceived in the workplace the way you want

to be perceived. I'm Tom Henschel, your executive coach, and today we're

talking about executive presence. Melinda, a fellow coach, called asking if I could help with a client of hers.

The topic, she said, was executive presence.

Knowing I've been talking with my own clients about executive presents for years, she said, I went to your

podcast but couldn't find anything specifically on executive presence.

You couldn't? I was surprised. That seems like an oversight, doesn't it? Doesn't it? She laughed. Anyway, it made a good

excuse to call you. She launched into her story. This client is named Asma. She's a rising story. This client is named Asma.

She's a rising star at a company where I've been coaching for years.

I remember when she showed up there.

She made an impression.

Smart, articulate, unflappable, but she keeps hearing that she needs more executive

presence. She and I have talked about confidence, but I don't know if confidence is really the issue. She seems fairly confident.

And about how old is she? I asked. Well, I don't think she's 30 yet.

You said she's unflappable. What does that mean?

She is one cool customer.

I sat in on a meeting where she made a presentation.

At one point, there was a flurry of questions from senior people probably 10 in a row.

It wasn't hostile.

People were engaged calling out one question after another and she was cool as a cucumber. I don't think I could have done that at her

age. She sounds great, I said. So if it's not about confidence, what do you think

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