HBA Mid-Atlantic Philadelphia Chapter Is Powering Up Their Leadership Presence

On 8 May 2024, HBA Philadelphia, with sponsorship from Medscape Education, BRODYPro, and Lucid Group, hosted an in-person educational and networking event featuring Amy Glass, CEO at BRODY Professional Development. Glass shared insights and tips on how to command attention and lead with unparalleled charisma and led attendees through a series of interactive activities designed to “power up” leadership presence.

Key Takeaways: 

• Glass explained the definition of leadership presence and what that looks like: being a leader is the ability to connect authentically with others; being perceived as a leader requires the ability to be comfortable being looked at and listened to (aka having charisma).
• Commanding leadership presence requires the ability to balance warmth with competence and it is best lead with warmth; as President Roosevelt once said, “no one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.”
• Communication is the key to cultivating a leadership presence, and Glass broke it down into the “3 Vs of Communication”: 
  • Verbal: be concise, do not hedge your words (e.g., “I think maybe we should kind of…” is a no-no!), and do not be afraid of silence—there is power in the pause
  • Vocal: when speaking use volume, cadence, and inflection for emphasis and to communicate with authority
  • Visual: body language speaks volumes, and it is important to consider how you are gesturing and moving when communicating both in-person and virtually. Use movement intentionally to reinforce key points, and if you aren’t sure what to do with your hands, “ground” them on some furniture or use a presentation clicker. 

Participants engaged in several group activities, including sharing personal leadership presence areas of opportunities in a 1:1 exercise. And it was pretty clear that not only did we learn a lot from Amy Glass, but we were also able learn from each other! 

Special Thanks

Many thanks to Amy Glass for an energizing evening of learning and connecting, and to our sponsors Haleh Kadkhoda, MS at Medscape Education, BRODYPro, and Lyndsay Gorson, SHRM-CP at Lucid Group for making this event possible, and Lucid Group for hosting in their offices. We also want to thank all the volunteers who helped make this event a success: Melissa Parker, Jessica Nesterenko, Patty Henhoeffer, Chrissy Buckley, Barb Radler, Cali Mangel, Stacy Hartung, Kris Liem Frost, and Kate Rubin.