Your body is in the meeting, but your attention left three topics ago. And you thought nobody noticed.

Someone is presenting quarterly numbers. You’re nodding at the right moments, asking a question here and there. From the outside, you look engaged.

But inside, you’re:
– already rehearsing what you’ll say in the 2 o’clock meeting
– thinking about that email you forgot to send
– solving a problem that has nothing to do with the person standing in front of you

Here’s what 13+ years of CEO Coaching has taught me – people always know.

Something in your eyes, and the way you react (not respond) tells them that you’re not paying attention. You are not ‘present’.

Human beings are wired to sense when someone is truly with them and when someone is just physically present.

When a leader is half-present, the room reads it as a message: “You’re not important enough for my full attention right now.”

Nobody says it out loud. They just stop bringing their best. They hold back ideas. They shorten their updates. They mirror your energy.

So when you think that you’re multitasking while in a meeting, your team feels dismissed.

The strange thing? Animals don’t seem to struggle with this.
A dog is fully where he/she is.
A deer eating grass is still alert to every sound.

Presence seems to be natural for every creature except us!
The irony is that we are capable of being ‘present’. 100%.

We’ve trained ourselves into constant distraction, to an extent many leaders don’t even notice it anymore.

Presence is different from focus; it’s being fully where you are, with who you’re with, while it’s happening. As a CEO Coach I work with CEOs extensively on this area.

As a CEO, If you’re not fully there, why should anybody be?

About the Author:

PK Narayanan  CEO Coach, a Business Coach in Bengaluru, supports Entrepreneurs, Business Owners and CEOs Scale-up their Business, enhance their Leadership Presence, and position their business for long-term success.

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