The Power of Presence by Kristi Hedges

Author:Kristi Hedges
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: AMACOM Books
Published: 2012-12-29T16:00:00+00:00

It’s Easy to Be Heavy, but Hard to Be Light

The author G. K. Chesterton first coined the phrase “It’s easy to be heavy; hard to be light.” I love the resonance for executive presence. Many leaders, and especially new ones, find themselves trying to create some distance from those around them. It’s as if they need to go through a metamorphosis to redefine themselves as elevated versions of their former selves. In this new state, you’ll make sure (in a new, to-be-determined way) that everyone knows who’s boss. It will involve embodying some sort of commanding presence with just the right touch of superior attitude.

A lot of people fall into this trap, especially when promoted in the same organization. I recall talking through this issue with a mentor after I was promoted from team member to team manager. I was telling him all the things I was going to do so that everybody would know I was in charge. He simply said, “Kristi, everybody already knows you’re the boss. You need to focus on how to make your team want you as their leader.”

The distance comes naturally with any leadership position. It happens so quickly it can knock you back a few feet. You don’t have to create it. What you do have to create is the presence to bridge that distance between you, as manager or leader, and others on your team. The individual connection has to be so strong that even as you arrive at a place where you can’t possibly know everyone, everyone still feels as though they know you. I’ve never seen this happen by playing the heavy. It takes the empathy card to go the harder road and play it light.

Tony Hsieh, CEO of the hugely successful online retailer Zappos and a thought-leader on connected leadership, puts it this way: “If you think of the employees and culture as plants growing, I’m not trying to be the biggest plant for them to aspire to. I’m trying to architect the greenhouse where they can all flourish and grow.”4

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