The Art of Commanding Respect Like a CEO

An expert in coaching high-level players in the art of perception management, Harrison Monarth reveals the critical difference between CEOs and those of us who wish to be CEOs. It’s not a matter of intelligence, connections or luck. It can be summed up in two words: executive presence.

While most of us toil in obscurity and expect great things to follow, those on the path to corporate leadership spend their time perfecting the types of leadership communication skills that generate respect and get others to share their vision. They use these skills to establish how they are perceived by others and to manage their reputation throughout the organization. In other words, these soon-to-be top players have developed the presence of an executive through careful image management — and they make sure they have the goods to back it up.

The Natural Laws of Perception

We are, at our core, a society of pitchers. Pitching the kind that pleads a case and asks for the order, that wraps an agenda within a message and ties a neat bow of sincerity around it — is the very essence of commerce, the lifeblood of law, politics and romance, the fundamental stuff of human interaction.

We pitch our beliefs and our dreams to our children. We pitch our qualifications at job interviews. We plead our case in courtrooms and at bars over drinks.
We manage employees by pitching them our wisdom and our vision for the future. We are pitching when we sell, when we lobby, when we complain, and when we seek to be heard and understood, which for most of us happens each and every day.

Developing Your Social Intelligence

Today’s generation of managers is realizing that nice guys don’t necessarily finish last, that, in fact, being anything other than socially sensitive and evolved whether it’s a genuine or strategic agenda can get you a seat at a congressional hearing and a few heavy handed punch lines from Jon Stewart (The Daily Show).

This mysterious new requisite for managerial success and the attention of the C-suite is called social intelligence(SI).
SI is not an inward awareness, though it’s tough to master if you aren’t in touch with your inner landscape (emotional intelligence) to some extent. SI can be as simple as knowing that a smile and remembering a name align with attraction and loyalty much more than do a scowl and a limp handshake regardless of how well a person executes the job description.
SI is not just a buzzword; it’s an entire spectrum of survival skills that can make the difference in a career.

Another way to view SI is to consider it the differentiator between the masses and the high achievers.

Executives looking to command the respect of their peers and superiors must remember that SI involves a lot more than an infectious grin and the endearing tendency to slap people on the back. SI is the confluence of a handful of distinct abilities, all of them driven by a keen understanding of what makes people respond.
Even if you get along with everyone and are the first person people think of when composing their invitation lists, you owe more to the five dimensions of SI namely presence, clarity, awareness, authenticity and empathy –– than to your razor-sharp wit.

How to Boost Your SI Quotient in Only Seven Days

If you can get your head around these concepts in the first seven days, chances are that you’ll notice a change in the way people react to you and, more importantly, at least if it’s working, a change in the way you react to other people and the way that makes you feel. Here is a day-by-day agenda:

Day 1: Start Using Your Senses More
Day 2: Critically Assess Your
Strengths and Weaknesses
Day 3: Practice Being Authentic
Day 4: Start Communicating Simply
Day 5: Practice Empathy: Look at Everything from
Someone Else’s Perspective
Day 6: Practice Listening with Empathy
Day 7: Make a Plan and Implement the Steps.

In Executive Presence, Monarth shows how you can seize control of your own career using the same skills. People reach highly influential positions because they deeply understand the power of perception and know how to leverage it in their favor. The good news is, anyone with the will to succeed can do it.

Executive Presence provides all the techniques you need to take your career to the highest level of any organization.