And trust follows a structure
In leadership conversations, executive presence is often treated as something intangible. A quality some leaders “have” and others chase through posture, polish or presentation skills.
Neuroscience and behavioural research tell a different story.
Being present is a felt experience – and trust is the mechanism through which it’s created.
When there’s trust, leaders feel grounded, credible and influential. When it’s fractured, no amount of confidence or authority will compensate.
This is why the work of Frances Frei resonates so deeply with how leadership shows up in real systems, especially under pressure.
Trust operates by design
Trust forms when you experience three elements simultaneously, a concept referred to as the Trust Triangle:
- Authenticity: “I believe you are being real.”
- Logic: “I believe your thinking makes sense.”
- Empathy: “I believe you care about my interests, not only your own.”
In this model, trust doesn’t average out and one weak element is enough to unsettle the whole relationship. In senior leadership, that weak point is often empathy, which comes not from a lack of care, but from fragmented attention, constant pace and conversations that become transactional.
Executive presence lives in trust
When you feel “present”, it’s rarely because you dominate the room and more because people lean in.
That leaning-in happens when:
- Logic is clear and easy to follow
- Authenticity is consistent across settings
- Empathy is directed outward
Presence becomes a by-product of trust rather than a performance goal, which also explains why some technically brilliant leaders struggle to influence. Their logic is strong, and their authenticity may even be intact, but empathy doesn’t come through. And the nervous system reads that absence immediately.
When trust turns into empowerment
In Unleashed, Frei and Anne Morriss describe leadership as the act of expanding others' capacity rather than protecting personal authority.
Empowering leadership shows up when:
- Decisions happen without constant escalation
- Responsibility is real, not symbolic
- Capability spreads beyond the leader
This is where executive presence extends beyond your physical presence.
Leadership presence and absence
Effective leaders operate in two modes:
- Presence (how you show up)
When you are physically present, you inspire others through:
- Trust (authenticity, logic, empathy)
- Connection (high standards combined with genuine care)
- Belonging (ensuring every voice has space and relevance)
- Absence (what happens after you leave)
The real test of your leadership is when you are not in the room. In your absence, empowerment shows up as:
- Strategy: People understand how to create and capture value
- Culture: People think and behave differently because of what has been embedded
A case from the field
During my work with Longchamp, I set up a practical exercise for teams to experience the Trust Triangle.
Small groups were given 20 minutes to create short role-play scenarios on deliberately impossible topics. My goal was to generate trust, even when belief was unlikely.
The scenarios were quite creative. They had to convince me and each other that:
- The earth is flat
- We live in a “green” reality
- Longchamp is opening its first boutique on Saturn
- Wonder Woman walked into a boutique and bought a specific pair of shoes
As the role-plays progressed, everyone noticed things in themselves, like how their logic was received, where empathy didn’t come through, when authenticity felt solid and when it didn’t. Some arguments sounded confident but went nowhere, while others made sense yet failed to connect. Presence shifted the moment the message stopped feeling fully owned.
What stayed with the teams was the awareness they’d built. They started noticing trust dynamics as they happened and later applied the same mechanics in daily leadership conversations when they aligned teams, made decisions and navigated discussions.
Trust became something leaders could recognise and work with in the moment.
Why authenticity remains the hardest lever
You can practice empathy through attention and strengthen logic through structure. Authenticity, however, requires you to tolerate visibility, like being consistent across rooms, allowing difference, and remaining real even when it feels uncomfortable.
This is also where you shape culture.
What this changes for leaders
At an individual level, you’ll start to change how you run conversations. You’ll get clearer sooner because you won’t over-explain, and you’ll pay closer attention to how your thinking lands with teams – as opposed to what you intend.
Presence becomes less about speed and more about focus because you’re there in the conversation and responding to what’s happening in the room.
For managers, it shows up in how you hold responsibility. Your expectations are still high, but you trust your people to own their work rather than giving them tightly refined tasks. Different ways of thinking carry more weight because contribution matters more than uniformity.
At an organisational level, trust becomes built into how the work happens. Decision-making, accountability and information flow reinforce empowerment. Even the culture becomes visible through behaviour rather than language.
Rethinking executive presence
Although executive presence is often described as something to cultivate, it emerges in practice when trust, belonging and capability are built into the system. When people feel safe contributing, act without constant oversight and understand how they add value, your leadership carries weight and others experience your presence naturally.
The best part is that your leadership will continue working even when you aren’t in the room.
My thanks to Frances Frei for work that continues to shape how we understand trust, leadership and empowerment.
About the author
I´m Dorothée Oung, Executive Coach and Neuroleadership Expert. I work with senior leaders and executive teams to apply neuroscience in practical, results-driven ways. My goal is to guide emerging and established Neuroleaders through deliberate, evidence-based practices that elevate how they lead, think and show up in the world.
