Insights and inspiration for project professionals

It is a brand new year. You have received gifts of calories and material, so why not gift yourself leadership?
That is what the book Executive Presence by Sylvia Ann Hewlett promises.

The work is based on a short survey sent to industry leaders about what makes a leader and what the greatest mistakes are.

Core Themes

The content is delivered pragmatically, along three axes: communication, appearance, and feedback, with explanations, examples, and advice for each.

Communication: We find the classical pillars of verbal excellence, conscientiousness, assertiveness, and relatability. The key killers of communication excellence lie in attention deficit and nonverbal signs of weakness.

Appearance: The key to shining is grooming, followed by classical beauty and age appropriateness. The main pitfalls are over grooming or under grooming, as well as visible insecurity.

Feedback: The author recommends, as I would, gathering frequent and constructive feedback. What may be lacking here is recognition of destructive feedback, as well as guidance on how asking for feedback can itself project insecurity.

Critical Perspective

Finally, the author refines different standards for men, women, and various ethnicities. Unfortunately, the analysis is quite egocentric and fails to offer an unbiased view of intersectional pressures on subgroups, often siding with politically convenient perspectives.

Overall, the book is a useful reminder of what makes us appear successful, with assertiveness and emotional security at the core. While I find some of the politically infused examples distastefully irrelevant, what I find truly missing are:

• A reflection on the contexts that welcome leadership. Game theory and survivorship bias would quickly challenge some of the statements presented.
• A cultural reflection, as the analysis remains rooted in a textbook American leadership model.
• An exploration of the drivers behind the judgments made in the survey, which in itself is a rather tenuous foundation for a publication.
• Practical exercises to help build the recommended capabilities.

 

 

Joachim Dehais, PhD, PMP, TOGAF, CCBA
VP Members & Volunteers, PMI Switzerland