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Analysis of Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges

by Amy Cuddy

Amanda L. Peacock

CCHE 600 Leadership Skills

Dr. Guerriero

July 23, 2022

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Introduction

World renown social psychologist Amy Cuddy is well known for her TED Talk “Your

body language may change who you are” (2012). She has done extensive research in the area of

body language and power differentials, concluding that neither is mutually exclusive. The crux

of Cuddy’s assertions focuses on how we are concerning our body language and how this con-

nection determines whether we are victims of powerlessness or champions of our authenticity.

Her ideas culminated in her book Presence - Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest

Challenges (2015). Cuddy takes a deep dive into the interworking of presence and how it fairs in

the real world. She broadly defines presence as “the state of being attuned to and able to comfort-

ably express our true thoughts, feelings, values and potential” (pg. 26). One caveat is that we

must believe and trust our own stories. Presence is about “believing in and revealing the abilities

you truly have”; getting rid of the barriers that stop you from being who you are; and, when

needed, “tricking yourself into accepting that you are indeed capable” until you fully believe you

are (pg. 29).

Main Ideas

Cuddy begins the concept of presence by asserting that we must first show up: show up

for ourselves as well as others. However, when we show up, we cannot expect others to be real

with us if we are not real with them. Further still, we must practice shutting up and listening even

when we fear silence will be seen as the relinquishment of control. Paradoxically, when we relin-

quish power we become more powerful and are allowing presence to speak for itself. (pg. 58,

61).

Alongside showing up is the importance of knowing you deserve to be there. Cuddy ex-

pounds on the concept of impostor syndrome or the impostor phenomena (IP) a term coined by
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Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes (1978) defining IP as “an internal experience of intellectual

phoniness” experienced by many women who believe one day their lack of credibility will be re-

vealed (pg. 78). However, this phenomenon does not exclusively plague women. Men may be

more inflicted with this disruptive pattern of thinking because talking about it risks being judged

as a less powerful, less competent leader (pg. 80). Ironically enough, those that fear failure the

most are those that have high achievements; and feel like a fraud does not logically follow. 120

Just as impostorism can destroy autonomy, powerlessness can impose crippling effects of

insecurity, anxiety, discouragement, and defeat (pg. 93). Cuddy makes an important distinction

between personal power and social power. Although the two are both desirable, fostering per-

sonal power is what will bring us closer to actualizing presence regardless of how much social

power we may possess (pg. 95).

Additionally, power can manifest physically. Cuddy makes the distinction between how

power expands the body and powerlessness collapses the body. It is true that expanding our bod-

ies and taking up space has often signaled male power dominance, but it is incorrect to think

these postures are exclusively male and others female. Body language differences between men

and women are not biological differences as much as they are systemic power differentials that

are deeply embedded in cultures (pg. 130).

Illuminating “body-based interventions," Cuddy points to a large amount of evidence that

we can have command over our body's actions and reactions to the world around us. Cuddy takes

a page from the philosophical book of William James that asserts we can manufacture an emo-

tion through our bodies until it is actualized because it is the bodily function that precedes the

emotional interpretation (pg. 140). Building off of this idea Cuddy conducted an experiment that
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set out to test the efficacy of how “the body shapes the mind” (pg. 165). The results were a set

of power poses that can be used by anyone in any high-stress, high-anxiety challenge.

Cuddy notes that her traumatic brain injury was the critical life event that began her

transformational journey. Slow incremental changes can be reinforced through small nudges of

encouragement such as recalling previous courageous moments that remind us that we are suc-

cessfully becoming emboldened and that we are progressing in conquering fear, anxiety, and

powerlessness. These incremental “baby steps” culminate in an ability to be our best authentic

selves which translates to our ability to be truly present. Presence is not a permanent state of

mind; however, any time we feel personally powerful our “speech, facial expression, posture,

and movement align” reflecting an “internal convergence” of interior and exterior power that

connects us to ourselves (pg. 26).

Critical Analysis

“Presence is the medium through which trust develops and ideas travel” (pg. 65)

Trust, Motivation, & Engagement

Cuddy notes that in her research, it can be observed that when we meet people for the

first time we ask ourselves “Can I trust this person?” and “Can I respect this person” something

she and her colleagues dimensionally dubbed warmth and competence (pg. 62). She explains that

in leader/follower dynamics it is hard for people to value warmth (or trust) and competence (or

respect) at the same time. Warmth and competence or “the golden quadrant” (pg. 63), are ideal,

but trustworthiness is typically the more important element. Considering an evolutionary view-
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point, we had to first know we could trust someone; if not we had to avoid them to survive, and

they were more threatening if they were competent (pg. 63).

On the other hand, Cuddy asked folks if they would rather be considered trustworthy or

competent and most chose competent because it is easily measurable through test scores or re-

sumes; therefore, enabling us to have more control over what level of competence we seem to

have (pg. 64). Further still, she points out that being trustworthy and warm is to the benefit of

others; whereas our competency and fortitude can be harnessed in ways that benefit us (pg. 64).

As Cuddy notes, trying to influence someone who doesn’t trust you may be seen suspiciously

and they may feel you are being manipulated (pg. 65).

The relational focus of the Leader-Member Exchange Theory (LMX) also prioritizes trust

between leaders and followers. Hackman and Johnson (1996) believe that establishing a dyad be-

tween leader and follower (s) encourages interrelated actions that all lead to the success of mu-

tual goals (Guerriero, Unit 2, pg. 13) Similar to Cuddy’s warmth/competence dichotomy, LMX

leaders recognize that trust must be established first to create a successful dyad that can move the

group toward the common goal. LMX is characterized by in-groups and out-groups. In-groups

have established high levels of trust with their leader because the leader has taken the time to

foster trusting work relationships.

Cuddy says that “trust is the conduit of influence, and the only way to establish real trust

is by being present” (Cuddy, pg. self-confidence65). A successful LMX leader is present. Cuddy

outlines the traits needed for a leader to have presence: confidence, ease, passion, and enthusi-

asm (pg.22). The traits are evident in the LMX leader when we observe that she possesses self-

confidence; is not threatened by a follower or followers growing autonomy and flexibility; and is

comfortable practicing of mutual influence and support (Guerriero, Unit 2, pg. 14). Her passion
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and enthusiasm are consistently apparent to her highly engaged followers; and it is reflected in

their discretionary efforts brought about by feeling confident that their work is augmenting the

organization's goals (Guerriero, Unit 2, pg. 14). The leader possesses the willingness to be col-

laborative and rejects of stringent hierarchies of power. As mentioned earlier, this demonstrates

Cuddy’s assertion that when we relinquish power we become more powerful and are allowing

presence to speak for itself. (Cuddy, pg. 58, 61). Trust must be established then “your strengths

become a gift rather than a threat” (pg. 65).

Deserving To Be There

In the 1970s, Pauline Clance noticed that women whose success was contrary to society’s

expectations of her coupled with her negative internal self-evaluation led many women to be-

lieve they need to assign external credit for their accomplishments instead of their intelligence

(pg. 80). This is one observation that led to Clance and Imes (1978) to develop the impostor phe-

nomenon (IP). However, as mentioned earlier, this phenomenon does not exclusively plague

women. Men’s disclosure increased tremendously when taking an anonymous survey. Men felt

ashamed to seek help or disclose their struggle demonstrating that men may be disproportionally

burdened by IP because they are held to a “strong-assertive stereotype," those who expose self-

doubt risk “stereotype backlash” and this punitive judgment can cause harassment or being ostra-

cized (pg. 80).

Whether men or women are experiencing this phenomenon it is not simple to identify the

source. Many people share traits of perfectionism, performance anxiety, low self-acceptance,

high neuroticism, low self-esteem, and introversion (pg. 81). Cuddy notes there is one similar

quality in those who suffer from impostorism: they feel alone even when learning about others
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who suffer. They can rationally identify authenticity in the other but still feel they are a fraud

(pg. 90). Impostorism's bedfellows — shame and fear — keep us silently suffering. However,

being aware of our anxieties and letting them see the light of day, and learning how they “oper-

ate” can at least equip us with effective tools when the fear of fraud turns up again (pg. 91).

One of the most effective tools that Cuddy lays out is seeking and using our authentic

best self. Cuddy’s work is grounded in authentic leadership. She teaches that once you have

found your authentic best self the next step is to express it but to be fully present means you are

also acting on it (pg. 48). Cuddy cites William Kahn (1992). Kahn developed 4 critical dimen-

sions about being present in the workplace: “a person must be attentive, connected, integrated,

and focused” (pg. 59). Adopting these dimensions we become present in “the fullest sense” and

the payoff is “personal accessibility to work…others, … and one’s own growth” (pg. 49). Cuddy

notes that organizations have the opportunity to engage in a critical role by creating a climate of

authenticity that encourages employees to engage in their best selves (pg. 49). This type of pres-

ence shows up in the workplace as “personally engaged behaviors” (pg. 49).

Reality-based leadership has some similar elements, yet its end goal is unique. In 2017,

Cy Wakeman published a book called No Ego purporting that too much time is spent on trying to

get and keep employees engaged and the established expectations only set the leader up for fu-

ture failure (Guerriero, Unit 1, pg. 27). Wakeman believes that we cannot motivate others be-

cause people make their own choices about what motivates them, they determine their willing-

ness to be accountable, and they only know the level of their commitment (Guerriero, Unit 1, pg.

26). Cuddy would agree that people’s autonomy is grounded in what motives them, what inter-

ests them, and self-accountability is a great asset. Cuddy would agree with Wakeman that an or-

ganization needs to be free of bad energy. Wakeman believes this can happen through coaching
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employees providing “intensive support of each follower's ability to self-reflect” (Guerriero, Unit

1, pg. 27). In turn, this will expose those who are genuinely committed; those who hold them-

selves accountable; and those who desire to accomplish organizational goals (pg. 27).

Wakeman asserts that there is only an internal locus of control and those willing to hold

themselves accountable and highly engaged should be the only focus (Guerriero, Unit 1, pg. 28).

Cuddy would agree with focusing on an individual’s locus of control. However, Wakeman

leaves no room for those who may not be engaging because they have low self-reflecting skills

or whose self-reflection is grounded in low self-confidence, and very little room for professional

self-improvement that falls outside the needs of the organization. I feel like Wakeman employs a

pseudo-autonomy: you can be yourself only under the auspice of the organization’s agenda. Fur-

thermore, what she considered coaching is not building upon a person’s overall autonomy; it is a

way for leaders to influence their narrowly hand-picked followership.

Power / Powerlessness

In the text, we identify position power wielded by leaders set within a hierarchical orga-

nization. As noted, some subdivisions categorize legitimate, reward, coercive, information, refer-

ent, and expert (Guerriero, Unit 1, pg. 6). Position power is a good example of what Cuddy calls

social power that enables control over others including control over critical resources (Cuddy,

pg. 94) As the text notes, referent power is considered the closest subdivision to social power

(Guerriero, Unit 1, pg. 7). Whereas personal power enables us to have power over ourselves and

decide our own “states and behaviors”. In the text this is likened to the expert subdivision be-

cause experts possess "specialized skills and abilities that others find beneficial” (Guerriero, Unit

1, pg. 6) — and people empowered themselves to choose and hone. Social power can be used
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appropriately and not used to exploit others. The text notes Gardner’s assertion that “social

power can be exercised independent of intentionality” (Guerriero, Unit 1, pg. 7).

However, personal power’s nemesis, personal powerlessness, can rear its ugly head and

prevent us from pursuing our personal goals inside and outside the organization. Within the crip-

pling effects of personal powerlessness there lies a paradox: when feeling anxious about making

a bad impression we bring about a self-fulfilling prophecy and wind up making a bad impression.

Cuddy outlines the crippling effects of personal powerlessness: (1) feeling powerless impairs

thoughts and (2) making us self-absorbed creating a “bidirectional” correlation (Cuddy, pg. 101).

Most importantly it (3) prevents presence while engaged in the interaction and we cannot be

present when “post-event processing” turns into ruminating thoughts that are trying to rely on the

distorted memory of the interaction.

In contrast, the benefits of power far outweigh the debilitating effects of powerlessness if

we allow it. Power can protect us acting as a safeguard against negative emotions (pg. 104); it

can connect us; and “liberate our thinking” (pg. 106). Power can “synchronize us” or bring into

alignment our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors; it can facilitate action because we feel in control

and this type of power “becomes self-reinforcing”; and power can make what would seem insur-

mountable to the powerless a motivator to the powerful (pg. 109).

Posture and the way we walk are also indicators of power: powerful people are more up-

right, and use more body movements. Our voices convey power or powerlessness through pitch;

our voices “grow” or shrink depending on personally perceived power. Powerful people do not

have rushed speech and will take more time to talk and make eye contact (pg. 127). Certain hand

gestures like wrapping your hand around your neck signal the person feels vulnerable and evolu-
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tionarily we do this to shield the carotid artery. Powerlessness manifests as collapse and we “fold

in on ourselves” to protect ourselves (pg. 128).

These seemingly basic observations turned into an inquiry: If expansive postures are in-

dicative of power, then what happens when we practice expansive postures when we feel power-

less? (pg. 160) Cuddy hypothesized that we can pose our bodies in such a way that imitates

power and it creates a feeling of power that can sustain us through anxiety-laden challenges.

Contrary to what we have always been taught, decisions create confidence versus feeling confi-

dent enough to make decisions.

For Cuddy, the decision lies in how to simulate power through the way we hold our bod-

ies which will in turn create the confidence we need for that situation. They established a base-

line group of power poses and powerless poses; and measured hormonal levels of testosterone

and cortisol before and after the participants took the poses they were assigned. One finding was

that while enacting a powerful posture and a powerful role there was a conscious feeling of

power. It was found that only posture and not role influenced unconscious feelings of power (pg.

170). Expanding postures also shape the way we think about ourselves and how we trust our au-

thentic best self to come through and be present (pg. 177). By expanding our bodies we can

“override the instinct of fight or flee” fostering openness and engagement (pg. 180). Expanding

our bodies can even help us deal with pain and take action.

Application
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“The authentic self is an experience — a state, not a trait” (Cuddy, pg. 41).

Showing Up

In her book, Cuddy interviews Reverend Jeffery Brown who was reluctantly charged

with finding solutions to the exorbitant gang violence in 1980s Boston. He (and the other minis-

ters) took to the streets to find out what the gang members had to say about the egregious vio-

lence and how they all (gangs and ministers) could restore the community to a relatively safe

space.

To gain the trust of the gangs he and his fellow ministers were attempting to engage they had to

meet them where they were — physically and psychologically. They had to show up.

And they did. Brown and his fellow ministers are servant-leaders. When a minister is or-

dained they are committing to serve as a prerequisite of their resolve to lead the church as laid

out by Robert Greenleaf and noted in the text by Frick (2004). The ideal minister would easily

pass Greenleaf’s “best test” to determining a servant-leader: (1) Those being served come to be

“healthier, wiser, freer, [and] more autonomous”; and there is a strong possibility that they will

pursue servanthood as well. (2) is the servant leader’s work effective (as well as the organization

they lead) for the underprivileged in society at large? (Guerriero, Unit 1, pg. 30).

The ministers were practicing transformational leadership. Their “organization” is loosely

constituted by leaders within several churches throughout the same neighborhood and their fol-

lowers are members of their churches. However, in this scenario, Brown became the leader of his

fellow minister's followership. Brown embodied transformational leadership and checked all the

boxes of Hackman and Johnson's (1996) 5 characteristics of transformational leadership: creativ-

ity, interaction, vision, empowerment, and passion (Guerriero, Unit 3, pg. 4). Considering the dy-

namic of Brown’s leadership of the other ministers, creativity was key to finding the best possi-
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ble solution for engaging the gang members. Brown realized they had to be willing to challenge

the “status quo” of the church: traditionally, ministers are sought out for their leadership, and

parishioners (followers) attend church for guidance. Going out into the streets required both cre-

ative and visionary solutions. The passion Brown and all the ministers have for the work is al-

ways their driving force, but Brown had to move outside his comfort zone to remind himself this

passion is not always executed from the pulpit. He could not have done this on his own.

They are all expert communicators (i.e., they preach) and they had a shared vision and a

shared desire for the future state of their neighborhood. Brown’s willingness to take the lead har-

nessed their collective skills and by empowering the other ministers, their collaborative efforts

were highly effective. Kouzes and Posner's (2007) powerful definition of leadership hit the nail

on the head for Brown’s transformational leadership: “[Brown guided] others through adversity,

uncertainty, hardship, disruption, transformation, transition, recovery, new beginnings, and other

significant challenges” (Guerriero, Unit 3, pg. 5) The circumstances surrounding gun violence

embodies that entire list of “significant challenges”. Brown and his ministers “triumphed against

[the] overwhelming odds” that the community could “confront the established order” of orga-

nized criminals who had a strong resistance to any change. Finally, through his persistence, he

was able to “awaken others to new possibilities” (pg. 5).

Authentic Leadership

There are many ways we can access our authentic selves first to our benefit and then to

the benefit of others. Let’s consider a professor who desires to be an authentic leader in her class-

room, but is unsure as to how to set the tone, what to disclose, and what would be in the best in-

terest of her students. Many views of authentic leadership encourage the leader to draw from
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their personal experiences. George, Sims, McLean, and Mayer (2011) believe it can be effective

when an authentic leader can locate a significant event in their life that was impactful. They

present 7 questions that a leader could use in self-assessment. The questions focus the leader on

identifying that event; exploring how they became/are becoming self-aware; what their core val-

ues are, where they come from, who are their supports, what being authentic means for their par-

ticular profession; and whether have they ever had backlash from being authentic. One excep-

tional question they put forth is: “to what extent is your life integrated? Are you able to be the

same person… in all aspects of your life?…If not, what is holding you back?” (Guerriero, Unit 1,

pg. 24). Cuddy implores us to go deeper — to go beyond just identifying these values, traits, and

strengths. She challenges us to “affirm [them] and trust the answers” (Cuddy, pg. 44). Cuddy

suggests another effective exercise put forth by Laura Morgan Roberts. sS an expert in organiza-

tional behavior, she helps people develop a “portrait” of who they are at their personal best (pg.

43). Roberts suggests identifying enablers and blockers “the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that

help and hurt their ability to summon their best selves” (pg. 43). Cuddy points out that if we reaf-

firm the parts of our best self before entering into a challenging situation we reduce our anxiety

and become “safe with ourselves” which, in turn, makes us more receptive to whatever environ-

ment we are engaging in (pg. 47).

Power & Power Poses

Let’s consider a student who is striving for an eventual leadership position in higher edu-

cation. They are more than competent but their anxiety arrests their professional development in

organizational communications. They have recently been assessed and they discover that their

intense anxiety is manifesting as a disorder. They take anxiety medication that takes the edge off
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and allows them to participate in class. However, they desire to learn and apply lasting cognitive

tools that can help prepare them for their involvement in future organizational transitions.

When we feel we are not in control of a situation because things are changing “opportuni-

ties take on the aspects of threats to be avoided” and compounding fears keep us locked in an

endless cycle of self-doubt and powerlessness.

Cuddy observes that she and her colleagues are not the first to identify links between the

postures we use and their influence on power. In the 1980s John Riskind experimentally demon-

strated that maintaining an upright position instead of a slumped one can increase our self-con-

trol and our confidence (pg. 167, 168). Further elaboration of Riskind’s study reveals that the

participants that demonstrated a slumped, depressed posture were more susceptible to developing

helplessness that was evident through “their lack of persistence in a standard learned helpless-

ness task”; on the contrary, their upright counterparts did not (Riskind, 1982, pg. 273). In a re-

cent study by Riskind (2017 ), he posited that “ a looming vulnerability model of anxiety…

[demonstrates that] individuals do not become anxious simply because they picture distant or

static possible threats that represent threats to the self. Rather, their anxiety results from inter-

preting potential threats as dynamic, growing, and approaching" (pg. 31). Returning to our stu-

dents with high levels of disruptive anxiety, adopting Cuddy’s power poses as a wellness tool

would yield positive results and be a medication free tool for chronic anxiety. Applying power

postures incrementally as Cuddy has suggested could potentially reframe threats and turn them

back into potential opportunities.

Conclusion
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Cuddy strongly emphasizes that presence is accessible to us all in “everyday…ordinary”

ways. We can learn to embody (pun intended) presence calling on its powerful assistance when-

ever and wherever we may need it. Furthermore, an essential part of believing your own story is

how it is delivered. It is important to tell yourself what matters, but equally important is com-

mand over how you tell it to yourself and others (pg. 39). Finally, the ideal state of presence is

when all elements of the self (i.e., physical expressions, emotions, thoughts, and behaviors) are

synchronically joined: our emotions must reflect our physical expressions (pg. 34). Among an

overly saturated society of what it means to be personally authentic, Cuddy makes a significant

distinction: our authentic selves are “an experience — a state, not a trait” (pg. 41).

References
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Guerriero. (2020). Unit 1-3

Riskind, J.H., Gotay, C.C. Physical posture: Could it have regulatory or feedback effects on

motivation and emotion?. Motiv Emot 6, 273–298 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/

BF00992249

Riskind, & Calvete, E. (2020). Anxiety and the dynamic self as defined by the prospection and

mental simulation of looming future threats. Journal of Personality, 88(1), 31–44. https://

doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12465