Page 276 - Executive Warfare

EXECUTIVE W ARF ARE

How do you get to be that person of presence? First of all, you have to
offer something substantial and not just self-importance.When I was first
a senior executive, I visited a fellow executive perched in an office very
high up in a Manhattan skyscraper. It was 4:30 in the afternoon, and the
building faced due west, offering an unobscured view of the sunset.When
I stepped into this office, the executive was getting ready for a meeting. He
wasn’t lowering the blinds, as you’d expect, to protect his visitors from the
glare. No, he was raising them and then rearranging the furniture so his
back would be to the window.
He explained what he was doing: “When I’m negotiating something, I
want people to understand that they are in a powerful place. This way,
they won’t be able to see me. I’ll be a shadow. They’ll only hear my voice
and know that they are with a very pow-
erful person.”

IF YOU TRY TO More like, with a moron. His idea of
CRAFT A how to express power was one of the
PERSONALITY OR dumbest things I’ve ever heard. If he
STYLE OUT OF THIN wanted his negotiating guests to under-
AIR, YOU WON’T stand that he was somebody to be reck-
LAST. YOU WILL BE oned with, the heat and light should
INCONSISTENT, have been coming from him, not from
MAKE MISTAKES. the window behind him.
He should have made it vividly clear
that he possessed the energy to listen to
a proposal, solve a problem, and make things happen. That is power. It
comes not only from your authority but also from your ability to estab-
lish your presence. After that, I never put my back to a window in a meet-
ing when I controlled the environment.
Second, to be a person of presence, you have to be true to yourself and
the things you believe. If you try to craft a personality or style out of thin
air, you won’t last. You will be inconsistent, make mistakes. Even those
people who do stick to their principles make enemies. But you will make

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