| LEADERSHIP PRESENCE,
With A Foreword By Warren Bennis, Is Available At Your
Local Or Online Bookseller
Read an Excerpt
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In
this issue:
Women Leaders Give Leadership Presence
a Standing Ovation
Female
participants in Simmons School of Management’s
Executive Education program find “extreme relevance”
in The Ariel Group’s Leadership Presence.
A group of women in Simmons School of Management’s
Executive Education program walked into class with purpose
and walked out of class with presence.
Upon
discovering that being authentic is the key to being
a great leader—then learning to actually transform
the way they think of themselves as leaders—they
earned their leadership stripes.
Not Just an Act
The women were participants in a custom program for
mid-level executives from a major media company. Simmons
chose The Ariel Group’s Leadership Presence to
comprise one module of the weeklong program, which also
includes leadership, negotiating, strategic networking,
mentoring, and other critical leadership skills.
Leadership
Presence teaches leaders to inspire and empower others
through genuine energy, enthusiasm and expressiveness.
The Ariel Group believes that delivering a compelling
message in a way that people truly connect to and feel
good about is not an act of self-indulgence… it’s
an act of generosity.
Rather than
teaching skills and mechanical techniques, Leadership
Presence is founded on “transformational”
learning—opening the door to being your true self
and projecting yourself with confidence.
“Leadership
Presence complements our university-based work in a
profound way,” said Simmons Associate Dean Deborah
Merrill-Sands, pointing out the way the workshop encourages
participants to move into a “new space”
and adopt new ways of thinking of their roles as leaders.
“It’s
freeing and creative. It opens us up to going back and
looking at our 360-degree feedback on our leadership
competencies in a whole new light—a new sense
of how people are experiencing you… with your
words, expressions and body language,” she added.
Participants
are encouraged to discover, use and enhance their natural
style—whether dynamic force or quiet confidence.
Both are equally effective; the trick lies in finding
your authentic style and staying true to it. Using a
“self-reflection” exercise, participants
get in touch with who they are and the values they hold.
Taking
Center Stage
As Simmons has grown and developed custom programs for
its clients over the years, a recurring issue for women
in leadership has been a need to strengthen their presence—whether
giving a formal presentation, making an informal one-on-one
connection, talking about accomplishments or working
on a team or with clients.
Across-the-board
consensus is that there’s very little middle ground
between the stereotypical “emotional/passionate”
role of women and the “tough/uncaring” role
they think they need to play in leadership positions.
They often find themselves in confrontational situations,
lacking the requisite skills to get what they want.
They get pushed back easily. They need to be able to
surface concerns to get a better outcome, rather than
exert position power that harms the relationship. They
need guidance in the using appropriate emotions in their
leadership communication
That’s
where Leadership Presence comes in. Merrill-Sands had
heard great things about the program over the years
and thought it might be a perfect fit for their need.
She contacted The Ariel Group in early 2003 about bringing
the program to Simmons. Boston-based Simmons is the
only business school in the world designed exclusively
for educating women for power and leadership.
A
short, interactive presentation on the drama-based methodology
in the Leadership Presence workshop “captivated,
engaged and impacted me as an organizational leader,”
said Merrill-Sands. “It raised my awareness about
the behavioral aspects of leadership. It caused a shift
in my own thinking. I immediately saw a need to integrate
it into our custom client programs.”
Standing Ovation
Merrill-Sands joined a group of executive women from
a national multimedia company as the first to participate
in the workshop at Simmons. The experiential program,
led by The Ariel Group, received a standing ovation.
“It
was a wake-up call on how we present ourselves physically,
and it improved our ability to communicate effectively,
to listen and learn from others,” said one participant,
adding: “It provided immediate application that
stays with you; it’s a significant enhancement
for our connection with people.”
Those thoughts
were echoed in many ways by all participants. They had
unanimous feelings of increased self-confidence and
self-awareness of how they appear when communicating—no
matter the situation or circumstances.
The
women also reported dramatic changes in the way they
are now able to connect with others, deliver a compelling
message and think on their feet—all with a fun,
can-do attitude. It’s perfectly clear to all of
them that wearing a business suit and a title while
mouthing leadership words does not a great leader make.
Well-deserved Curtain Call
With Simmons’ devotion to increasing the power
and presence of executive women, The Ariel Group’s
commitment to developing women as leaders, and the overwhelmingly
positive response from workshop participants, it looks
like Leadership Presence has found a permanent place
on Simmons’ program marquee.
“Leadership
Presence has become a vital component of our program,”
explained Merrill-Sands. “The Ariel Group is a
great role model, and we are so pleased to have found
a partner with similar values.”
She added
that both Simmons and The Ariel Group believe in cognitive
and experiential learning; that those who are “good
at” can only get “better at;” that
it’s important to acknowledge and address right
brain/left brain thinking patterns; and that it’s
critical to communicate with both your mind, your body,
and your heart.
Because they
share a common model of leadership and complement one
another with their areas of expertise, Merrill-Sands
said Simmons’ goal is to develop its current relationship
with The Ariel Group into a long-term strategic partnership.
Now that’s
a tough act to follow.
Practice Your Presence:
Emotion Drives Expressivenes
Expressing Emotion Guideline #1: Generate excitement
by expressing emotion.
Read to a Child
Purpose: Finding energy and expressiveness.
Practice:
Pick your favorite storybook from childhood
and read it aloud to a child. (You can also do this
with a story or fairy tale you know by heart—don’t
be afraid to embellish it with your imagination.) Emphasize
the different emotions in the story. For example, as
the story’s narrator, and when playing different
characters, use the range of your voice to express happiness,
sadness, fear, rage, etc. Also make sure these emotions
come through in your facial expression and body language,
too.
Expressing
Emotion Guideline #2: Express authentic emotion.
“Missing”
Emotions
Purpose: Having a small repertoire
of emotional responses.
Practice:
Read through the list of emotions that appears
below. Put a check next to the ones you naturally express
or those that are habitual for you. Circle three to
six you’d like to express more often—either
at home or in your leadership role. Find an opportunity
to express those “missing” emotions over
the next week (it helps to make some kind of sign or
reminder for yourself that you will see every day).
What do you notice happening when you add these emotions
to your repertoire?
The
tips offered in this section can be found in the Practices
and Exercises section of our book, Leadership
Presence.
Public Programs
In
2005, The Ariel Group will be presenting several public
programs that cover the range of our communication,
relationship building, executive development and leadership
work. Programs currently scheduled include:
Leading with Presence
Two Day Programs
- Washington, D.C. June 16 and 17
- Boston
June
23 and 24
- Boston
September
15 and 16
- New
York September
29 and 30
- Washington,
D.C. October 20 and 21
- Boston
November
17 and 18
To Learn More About Our Public Programs, Click Here
For
more information or to REGISTER, please click HERE
Recent
Comments About Our Programs from Our Participants
"The
course was very useful- but not as I expected. I had
thought that this would focus more narrowly on technique.
Instead, it was a far more valuable lesson in people,
relationships, and skills."
"I gained valuable insights into elements of
effective communication and relationship building."
"I
came into this program expecting to take place in a
few ice breakers and a few uncomfortable attempts at
public speaking. Instead, I had a truly magical experience
that brought out qualities in my self I didn’t even
know I had."
| 
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