Speaker 1: Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of
Speaker 1: performance through strong human relations, team building, and goal achieving.
Speaker 1: This is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host
Speaker 1: Paul Fellowledo.
Speaker 2: Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute Leadership Podcast.
Speaker 2: It's episode six sixteen. Let's talk about command presence without
Speaker 2: command ego. There is a moment every leader remembers. You
Speaker 2: walk into a room and the energy shifts. People look up,
Speaker 2: conversations pause, not because you demanded attention, not because you've
Speaker 2: flexed a title, but because your presence alone changed the temperature.
Speaker 2: That moment has nothing to do with ego. That is
Speaker 2: command presence. Now here's where leaders get it wrong. They
Speaker 2: confuse command presence with command ego. One builds trust, the
Speaker 2: other burns it down quietly, one interaction at a time.
Speaker 2: And I've seen this play out everywhere the ambulance bay,
Speaker 2: the cockpit, the boardroom, the hallway. Outside of a tense meeting,
Speaker 2: the loudest leader in the room rarely has command presence.
Speaker 2: The calmest one often does. Command presence without command ego
Speaker 2: means you do not need to remind people who you are.
Speaker 2: You do not lead with volume, posture, or intimidation. You
Speaker 2: lead with clarity, steadiness, and credibility that has been earned,
Speaker 2: not announced. So let me paint the picture. Think about
Speaker 2: the leader who walks into chaos and somehow makes things quieter.
Speaker 2: They're not rushing, they're not barking orders. They ask one
Speaker 2: or two clean questions. They listen, they decide. People feel
Speaker 2: safer immediately. That is command presence. Now think about the opposite,
Speaker 2: the leader who walks in hot, raises their voice, interrupts everyone,
Speaker 2: reminds people of their rank or title, and creates more
Speaker 2: tension than the problem itself. That is ego wearing a uniform.
Speaker 2: And here's the hard reality. Ego feels powerful in the moment.
Speaker 2: Presence feels boring to insecure leaders. Presence does not give
Speaker 2: you an adrenaline rush. It gives everyone else confidence. Command
Speaker 2: presence starts before you ever open your mouth. It shows
Speaker 2: up in how you carry yourself, how you listen, and
Speaker 2: how comfortable you are with silence. Leaders with presence are
Speaker 2: not afraid of a pause. They let the room breathe.
Speaker 2: Ego rushes to fill every second with noise. One of
Speaker 2: the strongest leadership moves you can make is to walk
Speaker 2: into a situation in saying nothing at first. Observe read faces,
Speaker 2: Listen to tone, Notice who is calm and who is panicking.
Speaker 2: Presence gathers information before it reacts. Ego reacts immediately. Here's
Speaker 2: the first actionable move practice Entering rooms slower than your
Speaker 2: emotions want you to slow down your body and your voice.
Speaker 2: Speed signals anxiety. Calm signals control. The second piece of command,
Speaker 2: presence is decisiveness without drama. Presence does not mean consensus
Speaker 2: hunting or endless discussion. It means when it's time to decide,
Speaker 2: you decide cleanly. No apology tour, no over explanation, no
Speaker 2: defensive tone. Ego announces decisions with force. Presence delivers decisions
Speaker 2: with clarity. Try this the next time you have to
Speaker 2: make a call that not everyone will like. State the decision,
Speaker 2: give the reason, give the next step, and then stop talking.
Speaker 2: The third piece is humility, paired with standards. Leaders with
Speaker 2: presence are not afraid to say I do not know yet.
Speaker 2: They're also not afraid to say this is the standard,
Speaker 2: and we are holding it. Ego hides behind certainty and
Speaker 2: blames others when things go wrong. Presence owns outcomes and
Speaker 2: gives credit freely. If you want to build presence fast,
Speaker 2: start giving credit publicly and taking responsibility privately. People notice.
Speaker 2: They always notice. Another mistake leaders make is thinking presence
Speaker 2: means distance, that you need to be unapproachable or mysterious.
Speaker 2: That's not presence. That is insecurity dressed up as authority.
Speaker 2: True command presence is approachable without being soft. People feel
Speaker 2: they can bring you problems without fearing punishment, and they
Speaker 2: know you will not tolerate excuses. That balance is where
Speaker 2: trust lives. Here's a simple field test. Ask yourself this.
Speaker 2: When you enter a stressful situation, do people get quieter
Speaker 2: because they feel steadier or because they feel scared. Fear
Speaker 2: creates silence. Presence creates focused in one more actionable habit
Speaker 2: for you. Audit your reactions. Ego spikes when challenged, presence
Speaker 2: stays level. The next time someone questions, you resist the
Speaker 2: urge to defend, ask a clarifying question instead. It changes
Speaker 2: the power dynamic immediately. Command presence is built in hundreds
Speaker 2: of small moments. How you handle interruptions, how you respond
Speaker 2: to bad news, how you correct someone without embarrassing them,
Speaker 2: how you stay calm when others are losing it. You
Speaker 2: do not need to dominate the room to lead it.
Speaker 2: Presence says I'm grounded, I'm paying attention, and I will
Speaker 2: take responsibility for what happens next. Ego says watch me.
Speaker 2: The leaders people remember, follow, and trust are not the
Speaker 2: ones who made the biggest noise. There the ones who
Speaker 2: made the room feel manageable when everything felt unstable. That
Speaker 2: is command presence without command ego. So if you want
Speaker 2: to grow your command presence, spend seven intentional minutes a
Speaker 2: day paying attention to how you show up, not how
Speaker 2: you are perceived. Strip away the need to be right,
Speaker 2: the need to be loud, and the need to be impressive.
Speaker 2: Mains is authority. People respect, not authority they tolerate. This
Speaker 2: has been the seven minute Leadership Podcast, and I thank
Speaker 2: you for listening.
Speaker 1: For more, Paul Fell of Alito Podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot com.