You Got Style: 9 Questions to Build Your Leadership Presence
A few weeks ago I slipped into the back row of a hotel conference room. Bad coffee, folding chairs, and about forty young leaders who looked like they’d rather be anywhere else.
Then Diane walked to the front. (That’s not her real name, but every word of her story is true.)
I’d coached Diane years ago, when she was a newly promoted VP who was honestly a little rough around the edges. She was brilliant, but she’d snap under pressure, and her team tiptoed around her. Now here she was. She wasn’t flashy and she didn’t use a single slide. She just set her phone down, looked at the room, and said, “Let’s talk about who you are when nobody’s grading you.”
Every phone went face down.
That’s style. It isn’t polish or charisma you put on like a jacket. It’s the quiet confidence that comes from doing the hard inner work.
For the next 90 minutes, Diane walked us through nine questions she still asks herself every quarter:
Then she got personal. “Number four almost cost me my career,” she said. “My first coach made me answer it out loud. I didn’t like the answer.”
I smiled. I remembered that conversation.
She closed with a challenge I haven’t stopped thinking about: “Make honest reflection a habit. It’s the framework that helps you lead yourself first, so you can lead others into tomorrow’s opportunities.”
Here’s my challenge to you. Pick one of these nine questions this week and answer it honestly. Then pass it along to a colleague, a team member, or a leader who wants real style and lasting impact.
Here’s to building your leadership presence!
— Steve
As a master storyteller, Steve has unparalleled ability to communicate dynamic business and leadership truths through stories, anecdotes and humor. Harness the power of the “number one” predictor of professional success, impact, leadership, high performance and sustainable relationships in business and life. Steve’s highest rated keynote presentation.
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“The purpose of Leadership Quest is to help professionals develop their personal leadership, vision and emotional intelligence. Everyday I strive to help leaders and teams achieve their desired goals in sales productivity, leadership, time maximization, and life-balance. ”
About the Author
Steve Gutzler is the President of Leadership Quest, a premier leadership development company based in Scottsdale. As a dynamic and highly sought-after speaker, Steve has delivered over 2,500 impactful presentations to renowned organizations such as Microsoft, Starbucks, the Seattle Seahawks, Spotify, Boeing, Cisco, Starwood Hotels, Ritz-Carlton, and the U.S. Department of Commerce.
A published author and thought leader on leadership and emotional intelligence, Steve lives near Scottsdale with his wife, Julie. Together, they cherish time spent with their three adult children and six grandchildren.
