Susan Ritchie Leadership Development

5 Steps To
Developing Your
Leadership
Presence
How to create the visibility, credibility and
impact needed to be promoted into your first
- or next - leadership role
Table of 1. About Susan

Contents 2. Introduction

3. It's not about faking it

4. Managing self-doubt and

building confidence

5. Managing your emotions

6. Communicate
powerfully

7. Raising your profile

8. Create impact

9. And lastly...
About Susan

Susan is a writer, trainer and leadership coach, specializing in working with

emerging female leaders to help them secure their first, or next, leadership role.

She'll help you to develop the visibility, impact and credibility needed to be
recognized as being promotion-ready, using her five step Leadership Presence
Blueprint.

Once you understand how to use those five steps, and apply them, doors will open
for you, opportunities will appear and you're on your way to landing that next
leadership role.

Susan uses skills built from decades of teaching, coaching, mentoring and training,
both nationally and internationally.

She has helped hundreds of women to have successful careers so they are able to
excel in their roles and enjoy them too.

As well as her 1:1 work, clients have included the BBC, the Institute of Chartered
Accountants, SSAFA (the UK forces charity) and a range of schools, universities,
charities, NHS teams and private sector organisations.
You're in the right place if you're an ambitious woman who wants to land her first -
or next - leadership role.

I'm going to share with you, some of the skills and tools you'll need, taken from
each section of the Leadership Presence Blueprint:

I'll be sharing ideas that you can takeaway and put into practice straight away.

Let's get started!

Introduction

I'd like to start by sharing a story with you.

Today, I work with new and aspiring female leaders and I help them to land their
first - or next - leadership post. I help them to develop the visibility, credibility and
impact needed to be recognized as promotion-ready.

But it wasn't always like that.

Let me take you back around 25 years, to a school hall in Cheshire. I started life as
a primary school teacher. On one particular day, we were receiving some training
from a 'Super-Head'. I arrived at school early, as I always did, and made everyone a
cup of tea, as I always did.

Half way through the day, my own head teacher introduced me to our visitor, with
the words, “This is Sue, our high-flyer and next aspiring head!”

The other woman's jaw hit the floor. It turns out that she thought I was the
teaching practice student.

Now there's nothing wrong with being a teaching practice student (we all have to
start somewhere, right? And being a lifelong learner is a GREAT attitude for
success). However, I had at that point been teaching for two years, and had only
that week, applied for my first promoted post. That wasn't what I wanted to hear
at all.
Even though I was aspiring to leadership, I had no
leadership presence.
There's nothing wrong with making anyone a cup of tea either, but at that moment
in time, it wasn't what I needed to be doing. I needed to be 'at the table' with the
other members of staff - in particular, I needed to be by the side of my head
teacher, and being introduced to people who could help me advance my career.

Instead I was stuck in the kitchen, by choice, making cups of tea.

It won't come as a surprise to you to know that I didn't get the job I'd applied for -
and neither did I get called for any interviews for those I continued to apply for.

My point is, there will be times in your life, when you shouldn't be making cups of
tea (metaphorically speaking), and instead, you should be focusing on showing up
as a leader.

If you're serious about getting your next - or first - promoted post, then
there are some crucial skills you need, the first of which we'll talk about
in the next section.
It's not about faking it
An important idea to note...

Before we get started, there's one important idea you need to know, and that's
this...

Isn't that about faking it, I hear you say?

No, it's not. It's not about faking it, or pretending to be something you're not. It's
about developing the skills you already have, in such a way, that the inner leader
within you will shine out!

We all do this, in lots of different areas of our lives already. Can you drive? You
practiced being a driver, way before you had the license, didn't you? You were
learning.
It's the same with leadership. You learn how to be a leader - and that starts before
you have the title. And it continues once you have the title too - in fact your
learning will never end!

The world needs women like you - women who are smart, ambitious and keen to
make a difference.

But the way things are at the moment, the world may not get to fully appreciate
your talents.

In 2011, Lord Davies published a report into the amount of women on FTSE100
boards in the UK. He stated that at the current rate of progress, it would take over
70 years before there were gender-balanced boardrooms in the UK.

“Board appointments must always be made on merit, with the best

qualified person getting the job. But, given the long record of women
achieving the highest qualifications and leadership positions in many
walks of life, the poor representation of women on boards, relative to
their male counterparts, has raised questions about whether board
recruitment is in practice based on skills, experience and performance.”

The Davies Report, 2011

Unconscious bias exists everywhere - in ourselves as individuals, in society and in

organisations. It's partly this that prevents women from getting a fair chance at
some of the more senior roles. We're all becoming more educated about this now,
and the diversity and inclusion agenda is gaining momentum.

Alongside this, women are taking bold steps in developing themselves and making
sure that they are in the best possible position to step up in their careers.

Developing your leadership presence is key if you want to be seen as being

promotion-ready and land that next role.
I've worked with hundreds of women over the last five years to help them do this.
They have made huge strides in their achievements.

Women like Katrina, who had a penny-dropping moment after a workshop and
went back to speak to her line manager and let her ambitions be known. The
result? She was given the promotion he was asking her advice about for someone
else.

Or Shaznee, whose hesitancy to take a promoted post involving managing former

peers, transformed into confidence and boldness - and a new leadership position.

Or Charmaine, who not only was able to point out the need for a new leadership
role in her organisation, but developed enough confidence to put herself forward
for it. The result? She now leads a team of 12.

You can achieve success like this too - by developing your own leadership presence
so that you are seen as promotion-ready.

There are some key skills you need to learn, and some key tools you need to equip
yourself with - and you need to learn these as early on in your career as possible.

These will then form a toolkit for life - which will enable you to take your career to
whatever heights you choose.

Read on to find out what these are, and how you can begin to learn them, and put
them into use yourself.
Managing self-doubt and
building confidence
The first step in the Leadership Presence Blueprint

Amongst my clients, this is the number one cause of a perceived lack of career
success - at whatever level they may be operating. Taking steps to make sure that
you are as confident as possible, and knowing you have some strategies to manage
self-doubt that work for you, will form the basis of your toolkit.

This is the first step to being recognized as being promotion-ready - having a

confident and strong 'inside' that people recognise when they look at you. It will
effect how you show up.
Let's make this very clear - we all suffer from self-doubt at times. It's natural, and
normal, and without it we'd be in the grips of our egos (not an attractive prospect
at all). Left unchecked, it can sabotage your success and prevent you from showing
up as a leader.

This is because whatever inner dialogue is going on inside your head will be
translated into body language, a tone of voice and a demeanor that will leave
everyone else in no doubt that you lack it too.

Record your Successes

Keep a journal, either electronically or on paper, as a means of making an ongoing
record of everything that you achieve.

We have a tendency to dismiss our achievements (especially as women), so it's

important that you understand that while we may not be feeding the poor and
hungry, or solving the world's debt crisis every day (and some of you may well be
doing that!), your contributions matter hugely.

As this list builds, it will act as a great reminder of what you actually do achieve on
a day-to-day basis, as well as providing great evidence when it comes to applying
for new roles. Some of your achievements will be the big-ticket, high profile
newsworthy projects, but others will smaller things.

Over time, it's this list of the smaller achievements that will help you to see yourself
as a success on a daily basis.

Aim to add to the list daily; at the very least you should have a weekly
review of what you have achieved and the impact of those
achievements.

Understand your strengths and weaknesses

Knowing these will help you learn to play to them. Again, no false modesty. Simply
being able to say to yourself “I am the kind of person who...” will help you to build a
positive picture of yourself as someone who is strong and capable.
 Understanding your strengths can be very helpful when it comes to
identifying key projects to get involved with, or jobs to apply for. And if
you've made your list of successes, you'll have some evidence to back
those up with too.

If you're in any doubt, then ask some trusted colleagues/ friends/ family members
or a mentor for their opinion of your key strengths. And then listen to the answers
- and believe what they tell you.

Your strengths will be a mix of character strengths and technical skills. When do
you use your strengths? Who do you use them around? Are there new strengths
that might be useful as you develop your career?

Just as important is the need to understand your weaknesses. The field of positive
psychology explains weakness as strengths overplayed or underdone. For example,
some of my strengths are kindness, emotional intelligence and 'love and being
loved'.

Overplayed, these can make me a people-pleaser, which isn't a helpful trait in

business (or personally for that matter). Being aware of this helps me to put
strategies into place to overcome any tendencies to do this. Understanding your
own weaknesses and tendencies towards unhelpful behaviour can help you to do
the same.

Challenge Yourself

Your 'confidence comfort zone' will stretch with practice. In order to

develop more confidence, we need to be continually challenging
ourselves. Each success teaches us something new about ourselves,
not least the realization that we can do things. Setting ourselves goals
and achieving them has been shown in studies to increase people's self-
belief.
Start small and set yourself a challenge with a deadline for completion. Remember
to record your successes! Most importantly, don't let the fear of failure put you off
aiming for something.
Managing your emotions
This is the second step in the Leadership Presence Blueprint

Please note this says 'manage your emotions', not eliminate them
altogether. It's perfectly ok to experience emotions and have them at
work

What's not so ok is to be so completely overwhelmed by our emotions that we

explode with anger, lash out verbally at a colleague, become incoherent, build a
reputation for being moody and inconsistent or act in a way that could be
damaging to our relationships with others.

This is called being emotionally intelligent - understanding and recognising emotion

in ourselves and others and using it to build effective and productive relationships.

It's a key aspect of leadership and managing your emotions is a key aspect of
developing your leadership presence - not least because studies have shown that
both men and women who 'lose it' at work are seen as being weaker.

The times when we are triggered into strong emotions are the times when we may
say the first thing that comes into our minds, or react impulsively - and this is
usually the worst thing we can do, especially in terms of your leadership presence.

A calm leader is a perceived as being a strong one - particularly in times of stress.

Others will look to you to demonstrate leadership in a way that makes them feel
safe. Headless chickens don't make good leaders!
Identifying your emotions by learning to name how you're feeling is a good first
step.

'I'm feeling upset/anxious/afraid/frustrated/angry/ etc.' Remember, feeling

emotion is ok. Trying to communicate when you're in the grip of high emotions like
this often isn't.

Letting your emotions run their course before you take action means you'll be
more likely to have a positive outcome.

What can you do to help manage your

emotions?
Learning to breathe and ground yourself can really help. This has a calming effect
and allows us to make better choices about our responses. Practice breathing in for
a count of seven, then out for a count of eleven. Try this for about three minutes.
Where possible, remove yourself from the situation and allow yourself to vent your
feelings safely before dealing with whatever has caused them. Go for a walk or a
coffee.

Exert some logic over your emotions - this can be done by talking to a good listener
who can help you get some perspective.

Identify situations and people that may trigger you to experience these negative
emotions. What can you do to help you minimize the impact of that reaction?

Practicing mindfulness can also be a great help - this is about focussing on being in
the moment, not ruminating over past events or making up a future that we have
no real evidence for.
Communicate powerfully
The third step in the Leadership Presence Blueprint

Become An Expert Communicator Even In

Tough Situations
Getting used to having tough conversations comes with the territory of being a
leader and developing your leadership presence means developing your
communication skills so they really work for you - whatever the situation. This
means communicating succinctly, with clarity, being assertive and becoming an
excellent listener.

Often it's the thought of having 'those' conversations that can cause us to feel
nervous, begin to doubt ourselves and lose our leadership presence by not showing
up with confidence and in an assertive manner.

There are some common trigger points here: having to challenge someone's
behaviour; delivering a difficult message to someone older or more experienced
(particularly when we maybe assuming a certain reaction from them); giving
feedback that someone else may find hard to accept; or saying no.

Here are some strategies for communicating under difficult conditions - and by
sticking to these when things are going well, you'll hopefully minimise the difficult
conversations.
The Art Of Learning To WAIT

A simple mnemonic I came across some time ago, can help us to use one of the
most commonly underused communication skills we possess, namely, listening.

Next time you find yourself in a tricky situation, where there are difficult issues
and or people to deal with, then before you open your mouth to say anything, ask
yourself this...

Yes - WAIT - don't jump in and speak, get defensive, lose your temper or apportion
blame. Instead - WAIT and listen. Ask yourself this before you open your mouth -
all the time. Be very clear about what you want to say.

You'll learn far more, and resolve any issues quicker if you learn to hear what the
other person is saying and attempt to focus on solutions that suit everyone rather
than trying to score points or crush the other person.

It's also very useful in all types of negotiating, influencing and relationship
enhancing situations - if you want to build rapport and bond with someone else,
simply listen to them.
And learning to listen is, I believe, the single biggest improvement we can all make
in our communication skills.

So here's another mnemonic for you: LISTEN

Look interested, get interested – aim to develop an interest in the human being in
front of you. Give them your full attention, which means no looking over their
shoulder, or glancing at your watch or mobile phone.

Involve yourself by responding – use small gestures and responses that indicate
you are listening. Nods, smiles, murmurs of assent, laughing in the right place all
show that your attention is on the speaker. At higher levels of listening this
involves truly demonstrating that you are listening by showing you have
understood what they are saying as well as acknowledging the emotions of the
speaker.

Stay on topic – do not allow yourself to drift away and ensure any responses you
make are to do with what is being said, not a direction that you may like the
conversation to go in. Listening involves you focussing on the other person, not
yourself.

Test your understanding – ask questions to ensure you understand what is being
said.

Evaluate the message – think carefully about what is being said and use
paraphrasing and summarising sentences to encapsulate the heart of the other
person’s message. A phrase to use might be “So are you saying that...?”

Neutralise your feelings – try not to become emotionally involved. Remain

detached and non judgemental about what you are hearing, as this will encourage
the other person to open up to you. Remember, it’s not about you.
One final thought...
Raising your profile
The fourth step in the Leadership presence Blueprint

As an female leader, being good at what you do simply isn’t good enough these
days. Intense competition in the workplace means you’ll need to understand how
important it is to be visible, as well as gathering a host of tools and skills to ensure
that you’re promotion-ready and seen by the right people, who can help you to
advance your career.

Here are five ways to be seen and heard at

work.
I interviewed a range of senior female leaders to find out how they have raised
their profile over the course of their careers - here I share some of their insights.
Be Seen.
Sounds simple, but in the world of emails, instant messaging, Skype calls and
teleconferencing, it’s all too easy to become a virtual colleague or team member,
even if we're all working in the same building.

I maintain that we still form the biggest bonds with people we actually meet, and
that is where rapport is built at its most strongest.

Jayne, the deputy Vice-Chancellor of a UK University, agrees. She has a policy of

actively being seen by “walking the campus” – i.e. popping into offices and saying
hello to staff and students, and having an informal chat with people she meets.

It’s this combination of being visible and talking that, she says, “...keeps me in touch
with all staff, and allows me to hear their concerns and achievements — it gives me
an opportunity to be approachable, if I can’t always be accessible at other times. It
also builds trust among staff in my leadership and decision-making.”

The lesson here? Where possible, take opportunities to leave your desk instead of
emailing, and go and meet colleagues face-to-face. The goal: get yourself seen
around your organization, introduce yourself to others. and have something to say.

Volunteer for Opportunities Outside Your Immediate

Work.
There may be times when you have skills that need to be developed, yet find that
there are limited opportunities at work for this to happen. At this point, it’s time to
volunteer — as Jo Cox Brown, the CEO of The Malt Cross Trust, told me.

This means that you’ll not only be visible outside your immediate industry, you’ll
also be doing good and developing your leadership skills at the same time. Jo told
me how, wanting to develop her skills in chairing meetings, she got involved in a
charity in Ghana that worked with women escaping the human trafficking trade.
As she recalled, “I did that for two years, and got the experience of chairing a multi-
disciplinary meeting. The work was very rewarding, but from a professional
perspective, it was also about thinking “what skills do I need, and where can I get
those from?”

Your improved skills back in the workplace will make you more visible. Where
could you volunteer that would not only build your skills, but might help others
too?

Be Memorable – for the Right Reasons.

We create an impression everywhere we go. Every time we open our

mouths or do something, we make some sort of an impact. The
question is, is it the right one?

A recent Harvard Business Revie w article points out:

“Being authentic doesn’t mean that you can be held up to the light and people can
see through you.” HBR January 2015

So sharing details about your domestic or financial problems at work may not
create the impression that you’re looking to make. Decide what you’d like people
to know about you, and also what’s appropriate for them to know.

Be a People-Connector.
Networking is, not surprisingly, a tool consistently used by the senior leaders I
interviewed. Research has shown that more and more women are understanding
the importance of building a network, and learning to nurture it.

A recent BBC article discussed how much business performance can be increased
by actively networking, and how women need to change their perspective on what
networking is, and importantly, what it isn’t.

One of the keys to this for women, I believe, is to view networking as building
relationships. A great network is invaluable — but then you need to use it, and use
it to the benefit of others.

So connecting the people in your network to one another is an effective way to be

visible: not only does it put you on the radar of two people, it will also be of help to
others, which is something they won’t forget in a hurry.
Consider Doing Something You Don’t Love
Sometimes a way to be more visible is to take the less obvious route.

This is something that Kate, the CEO of a UK housing association, recommends. In

other words, if the position you aspire to is on a small team but is currently filled by
someone who won’t be moving for some time, then consider a different move that
will equip you with the skills you’ll need, and help you to take a different path to
the top.

Kate says: “In this industry, although you may aspire to be in policy, becoming a
housing manager first will allow you to oversee and work with a team of ten
people. After two or three years of that, you’ll be able to move up much more
effectively than if you had just sat in a lower position in the policy team.”

So you’re better off not waiting for the right opening indefinitely, and possibly
missing out on opportunities. Instead, she advises, “Do something that will advance
your career, even if it feels initially unappealing, because there will be more
learning in something that feels uncomfortable.”

In fact, finding creative ways to be more visible and following a different path than
one you had originally envisioned may lead you to more success than your first
plans.
Create impact
The fifth step in the Leadership Presence Blueprint

Understand the Connection Between Strength

and Warmth

In their book Compelling People, Neffinger and Kohut make the point that one of
the constant tensions we have at work is between appearing strong and at the
same time appearing warm towards others.

When we meet someone, one of the first things we look for is their intention
towards us. We look to see how warm they are; does this person mean us any
harm? A split second after that, we make a judgement about how strong they
appear.
Are they good at what they do? Are they confident? And do they have the
determination to make things happen?

The two are not mutually exclusive and do in fact complement each other. Being
skilled at work (your strength) can lead to the respect and admiration of your
colleagues (warmth). Conversely, being widely liked (warmth) can be a source of
great strength if you can build a 'tribe' of supporters or fans of your work.

Research at Harvard University revealed that this lens of strength and warmth was
the one that people consistently used when making assessments of others.

They looked past everything else, including personality types, and based their
judgment on what turned out to be four universal dimensions, reflecting the
emotions that were evoked in others. These were fear/envy; admiration; contempt
and pity.

Imagine you have two dials: one is called Strength and one is called
Warmth. When we dial up the Warmth to ten, and we dial down the
Strength to zero, we can run the risk of being seen as too nice.

Remember my story at the beginning about making the cup of tea? I was definitely
showing up like this. Some of my clients really identify with this.

There's nothing wrong with being nice (in fact the business world could probably
do with more of it), but when it hampers the impact you want to achieve, then it's
not working in your favour. It's about finding the balance.

If your dials are the other way round, with your Strength dial way up to ten, and
your Warmth dial turned down to zero, then you may prompt fear in people.

The ideal approach is to balance your Warmth and Strength dials so you are liked,
admired, trusted and respected at the same time.
Think back to a situation where you may have the Warmth dial turned a little too
high: what could you do to dial it down a little and turn up the strength dial
instead?

Consider how you want to be seen and plan to make the impact that you want.

Some ideas might be to manage your tone of voice, smile less (particularly if you're
aiming to be more assertive), speak with clarity and precision and think before you
open your mouth to speak.
And lastly...

So there you have it - five steps to developing your leadership presence.

I've made it my mission to help emerging female leaders develop the visibility,
gravitas and credibility they need to be recognized as being promotion-ready.

When this happens, doors open up, people see your full potential and
opportunities appear.

The leadership role you aspire to is waiting for you.

You don't have to have a personality transplant overnight, or pretend to be

someone you're not... but there are a certain set of skills you need to learn, and
there is a way of demonstrating your true potential so your leadership capability is
obvious. It's about being promotion-ready in order to land that next leadership role.

Like most of my clients, you'll probably be facing some

of these obstacles;
self-doubt strikes at the worst possible times
your emotions sometimes get the better of you
you find it tough getting your message across
other people don't always see you as a leader
you're sometimes intimidated by situations, people and events
you don't have a clear plan of where you'd like to be
and as a result, have no strategy for advancing your career

These problems disappear once you're promotion-ready

- you see yourself as a leader, and so do other people.
Here's what some of my clients say...

“Leadership coaching with Susan Ritchie gave me the confidence and

tools to not only point out the need for a new leadership role within
the organisation, but to put myself forward for it. Susan taught me how
to recognize my strengths and understand my weaknesses by teaching
me different ways of thinking, at work and in my personal life. Since my
coaching I have become far more confident and happier within myself. I
find Susan’s style of working very innovative, supportive and
encouraging. I always left the sessions feeling highly motivated,
confident and ready to take on the world. I cannot thank her enough
for coaching me, if it wasn’t for her help, support, encouragement and
guidance I wouldn’t have had the confidence to take on my first big
leadership role. Susan is one very inspiring lady with a huge amount of
knowledge in Leadership Coaching and I would highly recommend her
services to any female who is looking to take that next step into their
first leadership role.” Caroline, Manager

“After working with Susan, I approached my manager to ask him about

a promotion – one which I had previously written off, and had even told
my manager I was ‘just not interested’. I had been busy convincing
myself that this promotion wasn’t for me, that I ‘wasn’t good enough’,
that they could ‘easily find someone better qualified’, ‘more
experienced’, ‘younger’, ‘with more potential ‘. Feeling inspired,
motivated and encouraged I asked my manager the question ‘what
about ME?’ – just one small question … but one with BIG results! I have
now been promoted internally within a branded global FMCG company
to a leadership position.” Katy, Regional Training Executive
 "I found Susan ‘s support invaluable. She understood me and my issues
straight away. After working with her, I have managed to shift my
negative perceptions of work and low self esteem to a can do attitude
with a positive outlook and this has enhanced my relationships with key
stakeholders and clients at work no end. A big heartfelt thank you."
Emma, Group Account director

“Susan helped me to maximize my impact and build confidence in a

relatively short time. She demonstrated experience and competency in
every session. She is an excellent listener, and her affirming manner
allows you to be receptive to the very practical solutions she offers to
whatever the job throws at you.” Ady, Senior Project Manager.

Now you know about the five key areas to help you
develop your leadership presence, and get yourself
promotion-ready, I'd love to invite you to 'Take the First
Step' with me and join me on a 30 minute call where we
will explore one of these areas in greater depth.
Together we'll generate ideas about how you can develop one particular area that
will help you to move towards that promoted post.

If you're ready to drive your career forward and committed to taking

that next step towards being promotion-ready, then I'd love to speak to
you. You can email me at hello@susanritchie.co.uk and we'll get a date
in the diary.
Remember, the world needs women like you - if you're ready to make a difference,
get in touch and let's make a start helping you to be recognized as being
promotion-ready and heading towards that new leadership role.

With love,

Sue Ritchie

Helping emerging women leaders land their next role

hello@susanritchie.co.uk

Copyright © 2015, Susan Ritchie

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