Leadership = Public Speaking

The ability to speak, convey ideas, and inspire others to act is an enormous part of what’s perceived and experienced as leadership.

Do you know who gets leadership positions in a company?

Those who are already perceived as leaders.

It’s much easier and far lower risk to promote someone who’s already doing the work of a leader and merely formalizing what’s already been true informally for quite some time.

If you want such a role, you need to be leading before you get it.

But this poses a challenge. If you need to demonstrate leadership before you are given a leadership position, how do you do that when you lack formal authority?

The answer is simple:

Public Speaking

You speak to advocate opportunities your employer should pursue (and propose a plan for how to do so).

You speak to bring attention to major problems that need to be addressed (and propose plans on how to address them).

If you look at a salesperson’s calendar, you’ll see that they spend most of their time selling.

If you look at an engineer’s calendar, you’ll see that they spend most of their time engineering.

But how does a vice president of sales or engineering spend their time? They spend their time speaking in meetings.

To be taken seriously… to have gravitas in your organization… you must learn to speak publicly at an advanced level.

This is one of the easiest, most powerful, and highest leverage ways to be noticed, taken more seriously, and unequivocally be recognized for your ideas.

To develop your gravitas habits, I encourage you to check out my 12-week workshop Gravitas Public Speaking Practice Intensive. In this workshop, you can practice your gravitas habits and receive direct feedback from other students, myself, and my teaching assistants. To be notified when it’s available, submit the form below.