The way you walk into a room, the way you sit down, and the way you rise to your feet—everything you do—speaks volumes about your executive presence. 

Consider the relationship between children and parents. Little kids look up to their parents. In turn, parents act confident around their kids. There is a strong bond of trust between them. Kids know that they are being taken care of and that parents are giving them what they need. This is a natural value proposition. 

Executive presence is developed by having a strong state of mind. You believe you have something valuable to offer your audience. You have the knowledge, experience, and value to help people do their jobs. 

People can do amazing things when they are in touch with their inherent self-worth and understand what they are giving to their audience. Developing an executive presence means being in touch with the influence you have on the people around you. Employees will be more confident about their own work because you—as a leader with executive presence—shared their most important knowledge and experience with them. 

In some ways, a good leader puts herself on the line for her team. She’s putting herself out there and revealing her authentic self. A good leader encourages, motivates, and gives people the tools to be good at something that maybe they could never believe they could actually do. When you embrace the fact that you have something valuable to offer to others then you become a touchstone for them. They are able to grow stronger in their jobs because they look up to you for guidance and as a source of inspiration. 

Bottom line: Executive presence and leadership are expressed in similar ways.