Leadership Presence
Defining Leadership Presence
Leadership presence has been coming up more frequently in coaching conversations recently, often framed as a desire to improve ‘leadership visibility’ or to refine how someone ‘shows up as a leader’.
For a long time, I found the concept difficult to pin down – it felt like an indefinable mix of traits and behaviours that effective (and less effective) leaders seemed to embody in different ways.
To understand it more clearly, I looked at common definitions and recurring themes. Most descriptions converge on a simple idea: leadership presence is the ability to project confidence, credibility, and authenticity in a way that inspires trust and influence.
From this, a straightforward model emerges – three pillars that support a single, powerful core.
Confidence
Confidence is a sense of grounded self-belief – calm assurance rather than bravado or volume. It shows up in steady posture, measured tone, and the ability to stay composed under pressure. When a leader is confident, people sense stability and feel reassured.
Credibility
Credibility is the trust a leader earns through competence, consistency, and integrity. It’s the quiet weight behind their words: the track record, the preparation, the follow‑through. Credibility tells people, ‘You can rely on me.’ Without credibility, confidence risks looking hollow.
Authenticity
Authenticity is the alignment between who a leader is and how they show up. It’s the willingness to be real - not in a performative or confessional manner, but in a grounded, values‑driven way. Authenticity creates connection. It helps people feel they’re dealing with a human being, not a polished façade.
These three pillars are powerful individually – but something more significant happens when they come together.
Gravitas: The Core of Leadership Presence
Gravitas is often described as the essence of leadership presence: the quality that makes others take a leader seriously. Gravitas isn’t a behaviour you perform – it’s what others experience when your confidence, credibility, and authenticity align.
Gravitas is what people sense when:
Confidence is calm rather than loud
Credibility is earned rather than asserted
Authenticity is grounded rather than performative
When leaders cultivate the three pillars, gravitas emerges naturally. They don’t have to ‘project presence’. Presence becomes the natural by‑product of who they are and how they operate.
How strong is your leadership presence?
Here’s a downloadable worksheet for you to reflect on and develop your leadership presence. You can use this framework to journal, reflect, or spark a conversation with a coach or peer.
Image: Swans on the River Parrett, Somerset United Kingdom, August 2024