“Executive Presence” Bullshit
You don’t have “executive presence.”
That sentence tells you absolutely nothing about your performance.
But it tells you everything about the person giving the feedback.
“Executive presence” has become one of the safest, vaguest pieces of feedback in the workplace.
It’s polished.
It sounds strategic.
It signals authority.
And it allows leaders to take the coward’s approach by avoiding saying what they actually mean.
Because when you peel back the phrase, it’s almost always code for something else entirely.
Here’s what “executive presence” often translates to, in plain English:
“You don’t speak up as much as I want you to.”
“You don’t command the room the way I prefer.”
“Your tone is different from mine, and I’m interpreting that as a lack of leadership.”
“I want someone louder, more forceful, more like me.”
“Your natural style doesn’t fit the mold I’m used to.”
“I can’t describe the gap because I haven’t actually put in the work to understand it.”
None of those statements are inherently wrong to give.
What’s wrong is hiding them behind a buzzword and pretending that counts as meaningful development.
Vague feedback creates confusion.Specific feedback creates growth.
Human beings rise when given clarity.
We evolve when someone tells us exactly what they want more of, less of, or differently.
We can’t grow when we’re handed a word cloud and asked to decode it like an escape room puzzle.
So here’s the question I ask leaders:
If you can’t articulate what’s missing… is the issue really the employee? Or is it your inability to coach them?
Real leadership, the kind we’re starving for, sounds more like:
“In meetings with senior leadership, I need you to share your perspective earlier instead of waiting to be called on.”
“Your ideas are strong, but they get lost in the delivery. Let’s work on structure and confidence.”
“I’d like to see you take more visible ownership in cross-functional conversations.”
“You let the group steer too easily; I want you guiding the group more assertively.”
That’s feedback someone can act on tomorrow. ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU PROVIDE EXAMPLES!
If you’ve ever been on the receiving end of “executive presence”…
Ask these questions directly:
“What behaviors are you expecting to see?”
“What does ‘executive presence’ look like to you in this role?”
“When have you modeled executive presence?”
“Please share an example of a moment when it was missing?”
“What would success in this area look like?”
Watch how quickly the vague language dissolves.
And if you’re a leader reading this…
You owe your people clarity, not corporate jargon.
You owe them growth, not buzzwords.
You owe them specificity, not a performance evaluation Mad Lib.
Because here’s the deepest truth:
When leaders rely on vague language, it’s not the employee who lacks executive presence. It’s THEM!
