Treat others as you would like to be treated…the Golden Rule sets the framework for the Gold Standard of leadership.

Our perception of ourselves as a leader, and how we are seen by others can be extremely different. What do your staff, colleagues, clients actually think of you? Have you asked? If asked to provide five words to describe you, what would they say?

How do you arrive when meeting with others? Distracted and disheveled? When answering the phone, are you focussed on the caller, patient and professional — or are your thoughts elsewhere? In written communication, are you concise and articulate? Or do you ramble in requests or come off as impatient in your responses?

Being present, focussed and energetic are true leadership traits. If you intentionally think about your interactions and how you would like to be perceived, rather than reacting to others, significant shifts in perceptions and relationships will occur.

How can you set reminders to retain your energy throughout the day? Schedule a cue on your phone to remind yourself or deliberately take a deep breath prior to every new task or meeting. These simple actions can put you in the true frame of mind for a high-performer. How you present yourself –, your positivity, negativity, and energy — can affect a meeting, your performance, or the productivity of others, and most importantly, the desired results.

There are three areas that you can implement strategies in that will affect your influence over professional relationships:

1.Interaction Intentions

Thinking about how you want to appear in a situation is the first step; the act of setting the intention for that appearance simply follows. So many leaders forget the basics and go through their day at lightning speed, without setting an intention for what they want to get out of an interaction. How can you succeed if you haven’t defined success? Consider how you want to be perceived, the results that you would like to attain, how you would like to treat the individual/s that you are meeting with, and how you would like to be treated, and your meetings will be more valuable.

2. Energy and Presence

We’ve all been in a meeting with an “energy-suck” — the person who sinks the room by her heavy sighs and led shackles. Now think of a situation whereby the energy, engagement, and presence of an individual was palpable and buoyed the room. Which do you want to be? The Titanic or the lifesaver? You too can create those same responses by being conscious of the energy and presence you exert through awareness, practice and confidence in what you are doing. Exhaustion, dissatisfaction, disinterest, distraction and frustration create far fewer positive results than focus, energy, passion, and interest. How would you want to be perceived and what can you do to create that perception?

3. Greeting, Positive Framing, and Exit Standards

When meeting with new people, setting a positive first impression is imperative, and you have less than seven seconds to do so. You are read on your energy, expression, appearance, tone, handshake – so make those first seven seconds count!

For those that know you, it takes even less time to read your mood, and how they perceive the interaction will be based on your body language. Whether you are meeting with someone for the first time or meeting with those that you know, set the stage for your desired results.  Positive framing at the commencement of the interaction also goes a long way in achieving the best outcome. If you start off a conversation by highlighting what has not gone well rather than framing it in a positive light, it will likely end   in confrontation, disagreement, and conflict. Your framing can set and change the direction of a meeting, and it is well worth the effort to focus the positive.

Your exit standard is as important as your greeting and framing. How an individual feels after an interaction with you is often remembered more than what is said. Restating any follow-up that will be made is the key to closure for the interaction and full understanding of what next-steps may be.

Are you up for the challenge?

Over the next week, set your interaction intentions prior to every meeting, be conscious of your energy level and presence, and set your own greeting, framing and exit standards. After one week, email me at jenny@jennyreilly.com and let me know if you felt any significant changes in your level of influence.

As a reminder of the three strategies, please download a copy of the related blog post handout by clicking on button below.

To schedule a free 30-minute coaching consultation to discuss how the strategies worked for you over a week period after implementation, or learn more about 90-day High-Performance Coaching packages please click on the button below.