"It is very true that I have said that I considered Napoleon’s presence in the field equal to forty thousand men in the balance." —Duke of Wellington

The Duke of Wellington’s perception of arch-enemy Napoleon, and his formidable presence on the battlefield, is not all that dissimilar from what modern leaders perceive of their socially intelligent high-performers who elevate their game to corporate superstar by establishing a powerful executive presence.

Casual observers might attribute this elevated presence to raw charisma. But in today’s highly competitive corporate world, there’s hardly a shortage of charismatic middle-managers who -- in spite of Ivy League confidence and credentials -- will never rise to the level of a chief-executive decision-maker. Why? A lack of the specific behaviors and strategic brand-thinking that defines the Napoleons of the world.

Leadership -- with all its critical disciplines and inherent responsibilities -- is the perennial topic of discussion from business schools to water-coolers and boardrooms everywhere. What isn’t taught at the Harvards, MITs and Stanfords, however, is the critical set of tools and strategies which transcend natural charisma. These tools can be summed up in a two-word phrase: Perception management.

The reality is that candidates for top jobs at the senior executive level must contend with the notion that it’s not just who or what you know, but how you manage the perceptions of peers, bosses and anyone else whose evaluation of your executive presence matters. They need to see you in the corner office, before they’ll ever put you there.

Perception is Reality
The factors governing one’s ascent up the corporate ladder are unthinkably complex, having as much to do with relationships and perceptions as they do quantifiable data and performance analysis. While there are plenty of active leaders who are anything but charismatic and charming, the fact is the nature of leadership is changing (one has to look no further than the White House to see this in play), and the style and effectiveness of how a leader interfaces with others can be a dynamic variable in their success. 

Such charismatic leaders understand the principles of perception — how humans take in and filter sensory information and assign meaning to interactions. Perceptive leaders know how to craft messages to meet the needs of target audiences; they understand what those audiences will discard and what hot buttons will pique their interest. 

The ability to master perception is just one element of what is known as social intelligence. While the science of social intelligence is broad it can generally be boiled down to seven principles (detailed in Executive Presence: The Art of Commanding Respect Like a CEO), each of which place the perception of others at the forefront of everything.  While cynics may look upon this worldview as manipulative, the fact is that we all make choices in our tone, perspective and content with each and every form of communication we undertake, including our posture and body language. A thoughtful set of choices in how we project, and perceive, is no more manipulative than a careless approach is deliberately self-destructive.  Social intelligence comes down to proactive engagement and self-analysis, authenticity and simplicity, empathetic thinking and listening, and a step-by-step plan to implement these tools in your life and career. 

Experts at Courting Buy-In
DNA may play a part, but it’s far more likely that a leader projecting executive presence, the one people flock towards and line up behind, is a product of a strategic approach -- a concerted effort to create “wins” for everyone within earshot.  One subtlety of this ability is an understanding of how to entice “buy-in,” and how buy-in differs in a critical way from mere compliance.

Compliance is the avoidance of negative consequences, such as punishment for not executing an order or failing to obey a law.  Buy-in, on the other hand, is a shared vision based on unified values, one that defines subsequent behaviors toward the achievement of a common goal.  “Taking one for the team,” for example, is much easier to swallow in the presence of buy-in as opposed to a context of compliance.  Athletes, for example, don’t run plays because of compliance—“do this or you’ll run laps”—as much as they execute their role in a campaign toward the common goal of the scoreboard.

Identify Shortcuts to Influence
Enlightened leaders who are building their executive presence achieve buy-in and create motivation through an understanding of the human psychology that governs behaviors, attitudes and beliefs. 

Effective change must be approached on this front, and achieving it requires the employment of a set of techniques and principles that are the antithesis of old school, compliance-driven management.  At its core is a central truth: compliance serves the needs of the manipulator, while buy-in serves the needs of a greater good. 

A Strategy of Personal Branding
The word “branding” is quickly becoming one of those terms with universal reach and weight.  There are actually three realms of branding, all relevant to progressive leaders: external (as perceived in the market), internal (as perceived and exemplified by the workforce), and personal.  The latter is precisely the focus of this article and the principles described here—they all drive toward the creation and promotion of a personal brand.

While the tools and techniques for personal branding (online social communities and blogs, for example) are perhaps different in nature and scope than those employed to craft corporate and product brands (although online venues are emerging as a primary branding tool), the essence of the mission is the same: you are attempting to influence the perception of an audience, and in a way that furthers your objectives.

Like everything else about communications, the term media no longer refers simply to broadcast and print.  Online venues have emerged to fundamentally alter the landscape of branding, and in ways the enlightened leader is obliged to understand.  Inherent to that understanding is a conventional relationship with the media colored by a progressive take on digital media that informs the former, since more and more lately the media is relying on digital resources to find angles and raw data.  Layered atop all this is the need to proactively manage search engine exposure, which is the gateway to garnering an online audience. 

All of these skills are new or greatly altered within the last decade, and the enlightened C-level executive needs not only to speak the language, but know how to walk the digital walk of branding, both for the company and him or herself.