Want more leadership presence? Start by being more present.

You can’t develop leadership presence without being present and it's hard to be fully present when you’re scanning faces, checking for approval and second guessing your language accuracy.

Being present also means not letting hesitations, forgotten words or mispronunciation disturb your focus and diminish your self-esteem. If you're a multilingual leaders, your mind going blank is typically a sign of cognitive overload and when it happens how you deal with it makes a big difference.

Multilingual speakers tend to inaccurately blame hesitation or a mental blank on a lack of vocabulary. In truth, going blank is more often the symptom than the cause of the problem. I know this because I’ve spent 25 years working as a language trainer and 10 years as a coach within Pharma and Biotech and I’ve seen the same thing happening time and time again. 

Talented leaders with good language skills who can communicate well within the safety of small groups, but hesitate and lose presence and as well as authority in high stakes meetings.

✅ Yes, language proficiency is a must to getting your message across

✅ Yes, it’s important to fully understand what’s being said in meetings

✅ Yes, accuracy is essential particularly when communicating your data

But it's just as important if not more so, to be present, attentive and receptive to your team

 And, it’s very difficult to be all of those and have a leadership presence when thoughts of...

‘I’m making so many language mistakes’

‘I feel such a fake’

‘They look: bored, disapproving, impatient, angry…’

‘Can they see how nervous I am?’

… resonating through your head.

When you get caught in a spiral of overthinking and self doubt, thoughts of external criticism, humiliation and failure take up a large chunk of your mental capacity or cognitive load. That’s what’s robbing you of really being present with your team, not your language abilities. Because the fact is that native speakers also make mistakes in their language and forget words on a regular basis, they just don’t connect their sense of self worth with their language skills and therefore don’t lose presence when it happens.

The challenge is how to stop the cycle of over thinking and get your nervous system out of high alert so you can access the knowledge you already have and stay present when your forget a word or are challenged directly in a meeting.

That’s where my work comes in.

I have a unique skills set, I’m a native English speaker and language trainer who has spent over half my life outside of the UK so I know what it's like to be the outsider both from a language and a culture perspective. I’m also a certified mental health coach working specifically with multilingual leaders whose whose minds go blank under pressure and who suffer from a lack of confidence and anxiety speaking and leading in high stakes situations, so I have experience helping people a lot like you. I’m also an introvert and highly sensitive person and I’ve lived with the feeling that I’m ‘not enough’ for most of my life, so I get it. In fact I more than get it; I've developed strategies and techniques to help me achieve things that have previously triggered anxiety attacks without others noticing my discomfort or exhausting myself in the process.

Why does that matter? Because the majority of leadership and presentations training is designed and run by professionals with a performing arts background for extroverts, which can feel overwhelming and inauthentic for many sensitive introverts and actually make the situation worse rather than better.

I’m not saying the more extroverted ‘Just do it’ or ‘fake it till you make it’ methodology is wrong, but it might be the wrong style of training and support for you if you're an introvert or HSP.

What I offer is a quieter approach with no acting, role plays or uncomfortable power poses to help you calm your nervous system, understand what’s blocking you from accessing your confident self, so you can be more present and less defensive… because you can’t develop leadership presence when you’re not fully present.

If you’d be interested in finding out more about my Leadership Presence Blueprint book a call with me here