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Suzanne Frawley is a senior leader in leadership and organizational development, with more than twenty years of experience in human resources, learning, and talent management. In her current role at JB Poindexter & Co., she leads initiatives in leadership development, employee engagement, and manager capability building across the organization.

Throughout her career, she has designed and implemented development journeys for managers and high-potential leaders, combining coaching, change support, and a strong focus on sustainable performance. Her work centers on building high-performing teams, strengthening “people leaders,” and aligning strategy, culture, and everyday leadership behaviors.

On LinkedIn, Suzanne regularly shares insights, tools, and practical reflections on leadership, team cohesion, and the responsibility of managers to create environments where people can learn, grow, and contribute at their best.

The article below highlights the key points from the interview we conducted together in December 2025, and the summary of our conversation was prepared with the assistance of Perplexity.

What turns a group into a coherent "herd?

• A coherent "herd" or team is built on clarity: everyone knows their role, what is expected of them, and the shared goals they are working toward. The leader makes explicit the behaviours, skills, and competencies expected, checks understanding by having people "play it back" in their own words, and integrates their additions or nuances.

  
  

• Cohesion is reinforced when people enjoy their work, share a common purpose, and feel passion for what they do, while giving each other grace on bad days and offering mutual support. Regular team time (conversations, sharing what each is working on, brainstorming) strengthens the herd and keeps it moving forward.

Balance between empathy and "parenting"

• A leader must avoid slipping into a parental role where team members become "children". A key principle is sometimes to let people "crash" safely: allow them to make non-critical mistakes, then debrief on what worked, where they got stuck, and what they will do differently next time.

  
  

• The leader’s role is not to say "you failed", but to frame everything as learning, and to let people fix their own errors when possible, which protects credibility and ownership.

  
  

• The limit is clear: you do not let people crash on unethical, non-compliant, or high-risk issues; in those cases, intervention is necessary.

Creating an environment where people can thrive

• The first move is simple but essential: ask them what makes them want to come to work, what they like about the environment, and what conditions help them thrive. The leader then, within reason, tries to provide or enable those conditions.

  
  

• Suzanne took the example with a team member who wanted to be a high-school softball coach; together they designed a work schedule that allowed him to do it while meeting work commitments. This challenge made him stronger at work and reinforced his sense that the organization and his leader made this possible, which in turn supported retention and engagement. For people unsure of “what they want to do”, the focus shifts from roles to skills and learning goals, sometimes leading them to design their own "learning curriculum" over time.

In her seminal research conducted through the Center for Talent Innovation (now Coqual), economist Sylvia Ann Hewlett talks about Executive Presence (EP) as the "missing link" between merit and success that creates real career opportunities.

She explains that while hard work and technical expertise get you promoted to middle management, it is Executive Presence that sends signals about your potential for senior leadership.

Without these signals, high-performers often hit a "performance ceiling" because they fail to inspire the confidence necessary for high-stakes roles. Keep in mind that technical expertise makes you the expert, not necessarily a leader.

In her 2012 national study, "Executive Presence: Cracking the Code," she establishes that this Executive Presence is not an elusive "aura" but a specific triptych of quantifiable pillars. In this article, I'll help you understand the three components and show you how to apply them daily, in your own way.

Note: Approach this article as an introduction to Executive Presence. It will be followed by a second article to go even further than the Hewlett's triptych. (Link will be added here as soon as it is written).

Gravitas (67% of Executive Presence)

The first significant element and the most critical component of Executive Presence is called gravitas.

It serves as the foundation of leadership, defined by the "weight" of one's character and the ability to project authority under pressure.

Here, "authority" should be understood as a comprehensive concept, not necessarily limited to the use of hierarchical power. The following are the subtopics related to gravitas you should master.

Confidence and Poise

Confidence and Poise serve as the psychological bedrock of Gravitas.

This concept, often defined as "grace under pressure," is the art of maintaining a steady, unshakeable exterior while navigating high-stakes environments or systemic crises.

For you, as an executive, this is not merely a personality trait but a strategic signaling mechanism. By regulating your emotional responses and avoiding visible panic, defensiveness, or impulsivity, you provide a stabilizing influence for the people around you and, more widely, your organization.

This mastery of your own internal state ensures that your impact remains intact even when the surrounding context is volatile, signaling to peers and subordinates that you are a reliable anchor in any storm.

Whether you pretend to get Executive Presence or simply being perceived as a solid professional, being able to handle your behavior under emotional disorder is a strong skill asset.

Remember: in a company, people observe and speak (a lot).

Decisiveness

We could say that Decisiveness represents the harder edge of Gravitas, characterized by the courage to make difficult calls and "show teeth" when the situation demands it.

This sub-concept moves beyond simple decision-making as it is about demonstrating the "burden of command."

As a leader with high Gravitas, you can't shy away from the friction of unpopular choices or the responsibility of high-risk outcomes.

By acting with resolve and avoiding the paralysis of over-analysis, you signal that you possess the intestinal fortitude required to lead.

In a few words, you're becoming a Solid Manager. This willingness to be definitive and to assertively defend your position proves that you can handle the weight of ultimate accountability without buckling.

Integrity and Truth-telling

Integrity and Truth-telling are the components that transform temporary impact into long-term credibility.

Gravitas is unsustainable without a reputation for consistency between your stated values and your concrete actions.

In a corporate context, this means having the backbone to deliver "unvarnished truth" to superiors or stakeholders, even when that truth is inconvenient or politically risky.

This radical transparency builds a reservoir of trust that acts as professional currency.

When your words and deeds are perfectly aligned, your presence carries more weight because your stakeholders do not have to waste energy questioning your motives or the validity of your data.

Emotional Intelligence

Finally, Emotional Intelligence could be seen as the tactical application of Gravitas, enabling a leader to read a room and calibrate their behavior for maximum influence.

While Poise is about self-regulation, EQ is about external navigation and sensing the unspoken dynamics, anxieties, and power structures in a meeting in order to adjust your tone, pace, or intensity accordingly.

A leader with high EQ knows when to exert dominance and when to practice strategic empathy to move an agenda forward.

This ability to calibrate your presence to the specific needs of the stakeholders ensures that your Gravitas is not just felt but effectively utilized to drive alignment and secure buy-in across the organization.

Communication (28% of Executive Presence)

Communication is the primary vehicle through which Gravitas is expressed.

Hewlett's research indicates that how a leader speaks is often more influential than the specific content of their words.

Let's see that in detail

Superior Speaking Skills

In Hewlett's model, Superior Speaking Skills represent the first subtopic that expresses executive intent, through strong and specific communication skills.

At the upper echelon (VP/ Director level), communication must be characterized by extreme economy of language; the goal is to maximize the "signal-to-noise" ratio.

I know we have all experienced managers who love politics and political shows, speak for ages, and use metaphors and allegories, but this is not what you should aim for.

As a leader embracing a sincere Executive Presence, you'll have to eliminate filler words ruthlessly ("um," "basically," or "I think"). These ones are acting as verbal "leaks," weakening your message.

By articulating complex ideas with clarity and brevity, you signal that your thinking is organized and your time is valuable.

Keep in mind that precision in speech suggests precision in thought, ensuring that your core message is never buried under unnecessary jargon or hesitation.

Command of the Room

Let's get this straight.

Command of the Room is the ability to dominate a physical or virtual space through the strategic use of presence and vocal dynamics.

It is not about volume, but about "vocal impact," using resonance, pace, and strategic pauses to compel others to listen.

This sub-concept involves taking up the appropriate amount of space and controlling the interaction's tempo.

If you want to command the room, speak a few words, explain clearly when needed, and don't be arrogant.

You have to be the focal point of the energy in meetings; your objective is to anchor them.

This magnetism ensures your audience remains attentive and that your points carry the weight needed to drive the agenda.

Forcefulness and Assertiveness

Forcefulness and Assertiveness are about the conviction behind the message.

To secure buy-in at high levels, you must project energy that conveys absolute belief in the strategic direction.

This is not synonymous with aggression; rather, it is the absence of tentativeness.

Assertiveness in communication means stating your positions as facts rather than suggestions, and using "active" language that drives toward a decision.

By showing conviction, you provide the psychological "permission" for others to follow your lead, as your own certainty acts as a bridge for their potential doubts.

However, be careful not to become a militant of something you don't believe in.

Body Language

Body Language serves as the silent reinforcement of your spoken word, ensuring that your non-verbal cues are in total alignment with your message.

High-stakes communication requires "open" and "expansive" posture: shoulders back, feet grounded, and hands visible to signal confidence and transparency.

Some individuals master it very fast and smoothly. Train yourself if needed. Otherwise, you'll look clumsy.

Another thing is the mastery of eye contact, which is equally critical; it must be direct and sustained enough to establish a connection without becoming confrontational.

When your body language is disciplined, it prevents "tells" of nervousness, such as fidgeting or closed-off gestures, from distracting your audience.

Ultimately, non-verbal mastery ensures that your physical presence confirms your words rather than contradicting them.

Therefore, it might sound counterintuitive, but the first training you should undergo is to align your thoughts, words, and behavior. The more consistent you'll be, the more anchored you'll be when speaking. And it also means more impact.

Appearance (5% of Executive Presence)

While mathematically the most minor component, Hewlett describes Appearance as the "filter" or "gatekeeper."

In other words, if a professional fails to meet the baseline standards of their organization's culture, they may never get the opportunity to demonstrate their Communication or Gravitas.

Unfair, but real.

Grooming and Polish

In Hewlett's Executive Presence framework, Grooming and Polish serve as the most immediate indicators of an executive's discipline and attention to detail.

And this is not about vanity; it is about projecting a controlled, "finished" image that suggests you manage yourself with the same rigor you apply to your business unit.

High levels of polish, as easy as neatly tailored clothing, maintained hair, and overall cleanliness, signal self-respect and a high bar for excellence.

Conversely, lapses in grooming are often interpreted as "noise" or a lack of situational awareness, leading stakeholders to wonder if a leader who overlooks their own presentation might also overlook critical details in a million-dollar contract or a strategic merger.

Once again, unfair, but real.

Cultural Fit

Cultural Fit is the strategic alignment of your physical presentation with the specific "tribal" norms of your industry or organization.

To ascend to the inner circle, an executive must signal that they inherently understand and respect the environment they inhabit.

This is a nuanced balancing act: dressing too formally in a tech-driven "casual" culture can signal a lack of agility, while dressing too casually in a traditional finance company can signal a lack of seriousness.

Mastering cultural fit is about using your appearance as a nonverbal "handshake" to prove
that you "belong" in the room where decisions are made.

It minimizes friction and allows your ideas to take center stage, rather than your outfit
becoming a distraction.

Physicality

Physicality addresses the underlying perception that leadership requires immense stamina.

In a high-pressure corporate pace, your energy level and perceived health are often used as proxies for assessing your ability to handle the grueling demands of that global role.

This does not demand the physique of an athlete, but rather the projection of vitality and "executive endurance."

A leader who appears chronically exhausted or sluggish may inadvertently signal that they lack the "bandwidth" to lead during a crisis.

Maintaining a high-energy presence through posture, gait, and alertness reassures the company (board and teams) that you possess the physical and mental reserves necessary to sustain long-term performance under heavy stress.

Beyond the Foundation

While Sylvia Ann Hewlett's triptych establishes the fundamental language of Executive Presence, the corporate world has undergone a radical transformation over the last decade :

• The rise of hybrid work,

• The strong demand for authentic leadership,

• and evolving cultural norms have challenged these traditional definitions, which remain valid in some respects but must be reinterpreted in today's workplace.

Writing that, I'm thinking of the "Command of the Room" once felt in a boardroom must now be translated through a lens, and "Grooming" has been redefined by the casualization of the global workspace.

To sum it up and introduce what's coming, Executive Presence is about building trust with teams from day one, for both men and women leaders. Executive Presence is not charisma, as we used to define it, the "male" way.

In the next article, I will go beyond this foundational theory to explore a modernized framework for Executive Presence.

Explore the next article: Beyond Executive Presence

The modern era loves "disruption" and "innovation". This trend does not spare management and leadership topics. And, to be honest, it feels like a bit of a jungle, even for me, a leadership professional since 2013.

I'm sure you've noticed that everyone wants to become that inspiring leader who motivates troops, with strong interpersonal skills and a caring nature. 

And, clearly, companies and schools have recognized this natural urge among potential leaders. That's why we've seen many executive leadership development programs flourish recently. My goal today is to help you see clearly in this (small) world. 

I won't focus on the offers available on the market but instead on the "product" itself, so you can understand why, what, and for what you should enroll in such a program.

Understanding Executive Leadership Training

What is an Executive Leadership Training?

Let's approach that question with logic. 

A leadership development program, obviously, focuses on developing your skills to ensure they align with the responsibilities of an executive within a company. 

That covers three main skills/topics:

1. Operational architecture: The discipline of making the organization run in a stable, predictable, and inspectable way. 

2. Strategic authority: The capacity to impose coherence across competing demands. 

3. Managerial autonomy at scale: The ability to make managers perform reliably without needing continuous oversight. 

To help you understand what an executive program is, let's compare it to an "operational management" one and use that contrast as the definition. 

Regarding the format, it might be a mix of lectures, coaching, mentoring, and simulations, all focused on big principles, decision-making frameworks, and rigorous feedback (you might not be ready for the last one). We'll discuss that topic a bit further in the article.

Importance of Executive Leadership Training for Organizations

Speaking from the company's perspective, the main structural benefit would be a unified leadership model across departments. Of course, this assumes that all Executives in the organization have completed the training. 

This initial positive point will naturally lead to reduced execution drift and better alignment between strategy and operations. 

Team autonomy is another significant benefit of a strong development program, followed by upper-level managers. Indeed, the more Executives mentor their managers (their N-1 level), the less people (still the N-1 managers) depend on the Executives' decision-making.

Moreover, a unified leadership system reduces variability by providing executives with a common framework for interpreting priorities and structuring actions. Then, teams receive consistent signals, which limits noise and shortens execution loops. The organization gains predictability because managers know how to act without constantly seeking clarification. 

Executives operate with less overload, as N-1 managers apply the same rules and keep their teams steady without continuous intervention.

Types of Executive Training Programs

Except if you're approaching business/engineering schools or universities (MIT, Wharton, Harvard...) to enroll in an MBA or a long-term executive program that would cover it all, they are not all the same.

Some will focus on strategic analytical skills, while others might focus on executive behavioral mechanisms. 

Let's see that in detail.

Strategic Executive Leadership Programs

The first kind you can find at that level tend to focus on developing your strategic analytical skills and transforming your mindset (remember the table above). Here, you'll mainly learn to clarify strategic-level priorities and connect them to operational, measurable outcomes. The idea is to strengthen the company's governance, pathways, and cross-functional coordination through mechanisms.

The second kind would be what I call organizational leadership system programs. Here, the aim is to establish a unified management framework across departments to improve consistency at scale. It generally focuses on defining leadership standards, operating rhythms, and accountability structures. These last three keywords are highly strategic, as they frame how "leadership" is expressed (e.g., through rituals) within a specific company.

Finally, in this category, you could also find the enterprise impact programs. These are more oriented towards building a strong leadership culture (and therefore values), we could even talk about "leadership philosophy".

Role-Specific Executive Leadership Programs

These programs are generally designed to effectively meet the needs and required skills of a specific function, area, and/or industry

It might be designed for VPs in Operations, Engineering, Sales, Customer Success, etc. They generally focus on how to effectively embrace the core job of an upper-echelon manager who leads other managers. Intense pressure is also placed on improving execution discipline through the autonomization of teams.

I've talked about how these programs might be designed for specific positions. Still, they might also be designed for a particular industry (e.g., Tech, SaaS, Manufacturing, Healthcare) under regulatory constraints, technical environments, and sector-specific challenges.

Skill-Focused Executive Leadership Programs

The last kind of programs you can find on the market of executive education are skill-oriented. It might be as broad as:

• Decision-making for executives: Improving the speed and clarity under pressure, for example, and or even teaching you how to assess risk and prioritize accordingly.

• Crisis and Transformation: Building stability and clarity in high-stakes environments. It might occur during restructuring, rapid scaling, or downturns.