“You can pretend to care, you cannot pretend to be there,” wrote Texas Bix Bender in his book Don’t Squat with ‘Yer Spurs On!
Bender was describing a vital feature of effective leadership—command presence. People who spend more than twenty minutes in the military know the power of command presence. Officer school candidates are drilled on the proper manner of a leader—focused, attentive, and engaged. Command presence is not about control, it’s about connection; it’s not about power, it is about poise. It is the groundwater of leader confidence and impact.
Davy Crockett had command presence. “David Crockett seemed to be the leading spirit. He was everywhere,” wrote Enrique Esparza, eyewitness to The Alamo, in a newspaper article following the legendary siege. Great leaders are all about spirit…that is, being, not just doing. They focus on being there, everywhere, not in absentia. And, when they are there, they are all there…focused, attentive and highly engaged.
Great leaders enjoy the mail room air better than the atmosphere on mahogany row. They hunt for genuine encounters. They upset the pristine and proper by inviting vocal customers to boardroom meetings. They spend time in the field and on the floor where the action is lively, not in carefully contrived meetings where the action is limp. They thrive on keeping things authentic and vibrant.
Leadership is the act of influencing another to achieve important goals. It is not about rank or authority. Ask any parent frustrated by a resistant child; authority (“because I said so”) is the last resort of the inept. Leadership is about being–the conveyance of spirit. “You don’t have to know that Susan is the leader,” a manager said of his leader, “You can feel it the second she walks in the room. There is a warm connection that reaches out of who she is and just pulls you right in.”
My friend, Carol Kinsey Goman has written the preeminent book on command presence—Stand Out: How to Build Your Leadership Presence. It will be released on September 29th but is already available for pre-order wherever books are sold. As a leading authority on body language, Dr. Goman has crafted a profound book that provides practical insight and pragmatic techniques for unearthing your authenticity and inner power and communicating it in a fashion that influence, inspires, and ennobles.
Davy Crockett held no official position at the Battle of the Alamo. His command was expressed solely through his presence—one that cultivated confidence and promoted passion. Coronal Jim Bowie wrote in a letter to Governor Henry Smith, “David Crockett has been animating the men to do their duty.” Command presence is the embodiment of animation. And, animation is what separates maintenance managers from great leaders.