You’ve heard of IBM, but did you know that it was once on the verge of bankruptcy? One man, a cookie salesman, was able to turn the company around and keep it from collapsing. In today’s leadership spark, we’ll explore the remarkable turnaround of IBM in the 1990s under the leadership of Lou Gerstner, Former CEO of IBM. Lou, an outsider with a background in consumer goods and financial services, took the helm and transformed the company. He restructured IBM, shifting its focus from hardware to services and software, and revitalized its corporate culture, steering it from near bankruptcy to becoming a global leader in technology services. This story is a powerful example of how visionary leadership and strategic decision-making can navigate a company through trying times and lead it to success.

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Whether you lead a team of thousands, a team of hundreds, or a team of five, you should have executive presence. While executive presence alone most likely won’t get you promoted or keep you in your current role, it is something that will set you apart. It is also a huge part of motivating and inspiring your team.

So what is executive presence? That is exactly what we are talking about today. Tom Henschel is the host of The Look & Sound of Leadership, which has been airing since 2008. Tom is also a communications coach for executives at companies like Warner Bros, Toyota, Mattel, and Sony Pictures.

Tom is president of the executive development firm Essential Communications. He was also classically trained at The Juilliard School, Drama Division. Tom was a professional actor for more than 20 years and has appeared in over 100 plays, films and TV episodes.

In this episode of the podcast we explore:

• How Steve went from acting to coaching executives
• What is executive presence and why is it so important
• Do you need executive presence in order to be a leader?
• The aspect of executive presence that leaders struggle with
• How to have executive presence in a virtual world
• Action items leaders can implement today to create executive presence