3 Phrases That Make You Look More Junior Than You Are

How to stop sabotaging your executive brand

You want to exude executive presence and establish your credibility as a leader. You work hard delivering results. You take care of how you dress and your body posture. You practice your presentation skills.

Still, building an executive leadership brand is not easy. Many times you are negatively surprised when you read your feedback reviews. How can you make sure the key people in your career talk about you the way you want them to?

I turned to Brenda Bence, one of the top executive coaches in the world and leadership branding expert to help me answer that question. Bence has worked with more than 700 executives globally and helped many of them improve their leadership brand.

I was specifically interested in how what we say can unintentionally hurt our leadership brand. Bence shared with me the three most common phrases that make us look more junior than we are.

1. May I…?

Bence argues that by asking permission, you relegate yourself to a small child. Children ask for permission. What you should do instead is to get clear on your role and responsibilities and stop asking for clearance for things that are within your scope.