Do You Have Command Presence?

“You can pretend to care, you cannot pretend to be there,” wrote Texas Bix Bender in his book Don’t Squat with ‘Yer Spurs On!

 

Bender was describing a vital feature of effective leadership—command presence.  People who spend more than twenty minutes in the military know the power of command presence. Officer school candidates are drilled on the proper manner of a leader—focused, attentive, and engaged. Command presence is not about control, it’s about connection; it’s not about power, it is abo...