Leadership IQ · Work with Leadership IQ

Executive presence coaching for leaders who need their judgment to carry weight

You know the business. Yet in a senior meeting, your recommendation can get buried in detail, your uncertainty can sound like indecision, or your urgency can shut down useful debate. Executive presence coaching focuses on the behavior other people experience when you lead. With Mark Murphy, that work can become the focus of a one-to-one, 90-day executive coaching sprint.

Discuss your goals

What is executive presence coaching?

Executive presence coaching helps a leader communicate judgment, establish credibility, and stay effective under scrutiny. The work should translate a broad label such as “needs more presence” into specific situations and observable behaviors: how you frame a recommendation, respond to disagreement, listen to concerns, and make your expectations clear.

A useful goal is not simply to appear more confident. It is to help people understand your thinking and trust how you lead. That requires room for different personalities and communication styles. Volume, accent, appearance, and extroversion are poor substitutes for a clear description of the leadership behavior that needs to change.

Start with the moment that is getting in your way

Your recommendation arrives too late

You explain the background before revealing what you think the organization should do. The audience interrupts to ask for your conclusion. Work can focus on leading with a recommendation, explaining the tradeoff, and choosing the evidence that the decision requires.

Challenge feels like a test of your authority

A skeptical question sends you into a lengthy defense, or you concede before examining the objection. Work can focus on separating useful information from the emotional reaction and answering the actual question.

Your expertise is stronger than your influence

People respect your technical knowledge but do not consistently act on your recommendations. Work can focus on connecting your proposal to other functions’ priorities and stating the decision or commitment you need.

Your confidence crowds out other voices

You move quickly, but colleagues hold back concerns until after the meeting. Work can focus on inviting dissent early, acknowledging uncertainty, and making clear which decisions remain open.

Turn “more executive presence” into a practical goal

Consider an illustrative scenario: a VP is told to be more strategic in operating reviews. Instead of practicing a more authoritative tone in isolation, the VP prepares a short opening that answers four questions:

What decision do we need to make?
What do I recommend?
What is the most important tradeoff or risk?
What do I need from this group?

The review then becomes more specific: did the group understand the recommendation, test the assumptions, and leave knowing who would act? These are possible coaching goals, not promised results. For more work on the message itself, explore executive communication coaching.

Work on executive presence with Mark Murphy

The 90-day executive coaching sprint starts with a 90-minute strategic intake. Bring an example of a meeting, decision, or relationship where your impact fell short of your intention. That example helps turn general feedback into a useful coaching priority.

Mark brings Leadership IQ’s original leadership research and practical frameworks to the discussion. The FIRE Model provides a way to examine the facts, interpretations, reactions, and desired outcome in a difficult situation. The focus is applying insight to the work you actually do, with a structured progress review in week 12.

For background on identifying gaps between intention and impact, explore our leadership blind spots research. Research can help frame a question; your own examples and feedback determine the focus of your engagement.

What progress could look like

Choose evidence that matches the situation. You might review whether your recommendations are clearer, whether you answer objections directly, or whether colleagues raise concerns earlier. Ask for examples from people who see the behavior, rather than relying only on a broad confidence rating.

A practical review can compare one earlier situation with a similar recent one: what you did differently, how others responded, and what still needs work. The aim is a repeatable leadership habit, not a performance that works only in a rehearsal.

Is this the right focus for you?

This focus is worth discussing if you are a VP, senior director, C-suite leader, or newly appointed executive whose responsibilities require more visible judgment and influence. If your primary challenge is establishing authority in a new role, executive transition coaching may be a useful starting point. If the challenge spans enterprise decisions and executive-team accountability, explore CEO coaching.

Does presence coaching require changing my personality?

The work should make your leadership more effective in specific situations. You can practice clearer recommendations, more deliberate listening, and steadier responses while retaining your own style.

Is this a separate course or package?

Executive presence is a possible focus within Mark’s 90-day, one-to-one coaching sprint. The strategy call helps determine whether that focus fits your goals.

How much does it cost?

Quote after the complimentary strategy call. Our executive coaching cost guide explains what to compare when reviewing an engagement.