As companies scale, the biggest risk isn’t the market, the competition, or the technology. It’s a leadership team that can’t keep pace with the growth it created. In fast-moving, high-pressure industries, that gap gets expensive fast.

High performance at the top isn’t about having the smartest people in the room. It comes down to four capabilities. None of them are simply “soft skills.” They drive results.

THE FOUR CAPABILITIES THAT DRIVE GROWTH

1.  High-stakes communication. When pressure hit
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Most executive presence advice starts in the wrong place. Stand taller. Slow your speech. Hold eye contact. Lower your vocal fry. These are the go-to fixes, and they treat presence as a set of behaviors to correct... as if the person walking into the room is broadcasting some visible deficiency that better technique will patch over.

That framing misses the actual problem entirely.

Take a client of mine... a highly capable marketing executive on the path to CMO. Every quarter she presents for 3...

Strategic Communications for Women in Business

I am so excited and honored to have interviewed Nathalie Gauthier. She is an Assistant Vice President, Global Markets Technology-Proj Mgmt Office for State Street, a leading financial services firm out of Boston. Nathalie shares her tools and tips in strategic communications.

SO GOOD! Here Are a Couple of the Main Take-Aways:

1. Take ownership... ask what is my place in this and how can I improve?
2. Practice in a 'warm' environment... prior to a hi...