Episode Title: The Secrets of a Compelling Leader Presence

Episode Description:

Welcome to an enlightening episode of my podcast, where we explore the enigmatic world of a leader’s presence, often called "executive presence." What sets apart those who lead with effortless grace and authority? Is it their authenticity, their unwavering attitude, or perhaps the unique energy they bring into their leadership?

In this episode, I unravel the different elements that contribute to a leader's presence. Discover the subtle yet powerful nuances that make up an authentic leader and learn how attitude and energy play pivotal roles in shaping how leaders are perceived.

But that's not all. I'll also take you behind the WHY – the inspiration and purpose – behind this podcast. What drives my passion for exploring the essence of leadership? How did this idea come about and what do I hope to achieve through these conversations?

In This Episode, You'll Learn:

• The key elements that constitute leader presence.
• Why authenticity is the cornerstone of a thriving leader’s presence.
• How attitude and energy influence a leader's impact.
• The personal story behind the creation of this podcast.

Join me and let's unlock the secrets of a compelling leader presence together.

Hi and welcome to my second episode of my brand-new Rise to Lead podcast. Today, I want to share some of the secrets behind a compelling leader presence. First, let me say that I'm extremely grateful and honored to have you with me today, and I'm delighted that you're joining me here. And hopefully you get value. So you will join me for many, many more episodes in the future. Very soon I'm also going to have amazing guests on, and I know you and I will learn so much from them. And yeah, I just I'm just really excited about that.

Regina 00:02:48 But my adventurous spirit and my insatiable curiosity pushed me to live an eclectic and very adventurous life. It pushed me out into the world and I've lived across several continents. I've experienced different cultures in Europe, the US, Latin America and Africa, and I've taken a ton of risks, some of which worked out, some of it not so great, but there were still always lessons in how they worked out. I've seen all kinds of leadership, from genuinely good to downright manipulative and evil. At age 27, I was promoted to a leadership role at a global consulting firm, Boston Consulting Group, even though I had no relevant background. But I managed to succeed, and my team still respects me. And this is really, really this means a lot to me. It means the world to me, actually. it shows that while I wasn't perfect in my leadership role, without the experience or the studies, my intentions were good and they came from the heart. And my team felt that people can tell if you know when you as a leader, have their back, when you want to support them, when you do your best and you want the best for them as well.

Regina 00:05:53 Not a stressed out leader. Now, as a transformational leadership coach and inspirational speaker with my business, Transform Your Performance, I help my clients uplevel their leadership of themselves and their teams. This helps them build happier and more engaged teams and ultimately achieve greater success and fulfillment as leaders, as authentic, heart driven, and heart centered leaders. I believe that as leaders, we are meant to work in the service of those we lead and in the service of freedom as well. Everything I do is in the service of freedom. Also in the service of to speak up, stand out and shine as as my the title of my first book goes. So this podcast is for you if you are looking for fresh inspiration around how to become a better leader of yourself and others, how to be successful as a heart centered leaders, and how leader, and how to gain greater freedom and greater fulfillment as a leader at the same time. How to be bold, courageous as a leader, not just as a leader of others, as I said before, but also and often most importantly of ourselves.

Regina 00:08:37 Or you could call it positive or authenticity or useful. Authenticity is when I show up as my best Self. I show up as who I already am. But the best version of that, right? It's when people look at me and. And by doing that, they know that what they see is what they get. And, and of course, I don't want to share. It doesn't mean that I'm disclosing, you know, all my intimate secrets or my dirty clothes. I'm not going to share all of that with them because that's none of their business. We all have some crap that we would not want others to know, right? Yeah, I, I, I feel you're thinking about your crap right now, right? So let's be real. We all have it. No one have ever met is perfect. And we also not supposed to be perfect. We're supposed to be real, and we're supposed to be authentic. That doesn't mean we have to share every little thing and all our intimate stuff, right? Being authentic to myself is to not just talk about good intentions and high standards and concepts and all of that, but to actually live them, to express them through who I am, to show them in my behavior and in my presence, in my attitude.

Regina 00:11:30 Presence is about so many things. It's a complex construct of your appearance. I've made a few notes here because I don't want to forget about anything, but it's really a lot that flows into your presence. For example, your appearance, your body language, your outfit, the attitude, your energy and much more. It's about how you show up and how you are perceived. How do you speak? What's your communication style? It's not just about the words themselves, the vocabulary. It's also about the style. It's about your voice. All of that, right? Your body language, your gestures, facial expressions, your posture, the way you move. What's the level of confidence you convey through your body language, through your voice, through your attitude, through your the way you dress, maybe, and through the tone of and the and the way you use your voice. Right. And of course, and almost most importantly, through your energy, the energy you convey, because the energy is always transmitted.

Regina 00:14:14 It fuels everything you think you say you do. It's perceived through your words, through your attitude, through your behavior, your actions. I've often heard people say that it takes seven seconds to make a first impression, and you've probably heard that before. Too many people. People say this. It takes seven seconds to make a first impression. When in reality, it's much less than that because it takes a mere .07 seconds for our brains to figure out whether we can trust someone. I'm going to say that again. It takes only 0.07 seconds for our brains to figure out whether we can trust someone that's less than a blink of an eye. And it's about your energy. It must be this fast because it's part of our survival mechanism. What our brains pick up here is someone's energy. So yes, you want to be aware of your visuals? Of course. Right. How do you show up at higher grooming? All of that is important. And yes, also your words, your voice, your posture, your body language, all of that.

Regina 00:17:04 I want to repeat that again. Your presence is about who you are and who you convey you are. We want to see who we are dealing with. We cannot trust you if we don't know who you are, what you stand for, whether you tell the truth, whether you are genuine with us. Honest, right? This is why authenticity is so significant. It's the basis of trust. If you want to be a successful leader, you need to build that trust first. You need to build that trust with everyone you interact with your team, other stakeholders in your organization or outside of it. Business partners, your audience, your clients, whoever you deal with in your work. I hope this has been helpful to you. Think about it and please do reach out if you have any questions or comments. I'm always open for that. Join me in the next episode as I'll be talking about the essence of bold and courageous leadership. I'm still going to do a few episodes by myself, while I'm getting all the ducks in a row for guests to come on, but then you'll also see my wonderful guests, some of who I mentioned earlier.