My co-author Dan and I were chatting with a colleague about the things that didn't make it into The Core Career Dials. Every book has them - every chapter in ours could have been a book in itself (and there are plenty of whole books out there about each topic).

Creating a book was one of the hardest things I've ever done - all the decisions about what gets cut, what makes sense for the overall shape of a chapter - these all mean that stuff gets left out.

And even beyond publication, there are so many learnings I realise could have been in that book but at some point, you have to call an end to the writing process and get it out into the world.

Let me tell you about one of those learnings.

A few weeks ago I went back to an improv class. I'd been feeling quite disconnected, doing so much of my work online, and I was craving some proper face-to-face interaction. And I have to admit, I was scared. Which for some might seem odd because standing up and speaking in front of people is something I do for a living. But improv is different because there's no rehearsal, no slides, no preparation and therefore nowhere to hide.

Besides being bowled over by the quality of the class and the warmth of the people there, I came away with a lot to think about.

In the book, we broke down executive presence into three ingredients: gravitas, communication and decision-making. We had fun mixing them into cocktails like the Verbose Vesper and the Panic Punch - and the framework holds up.

But sitting in that class, I watched something the chapter doesn't quite capture.

The instructor, Sarah Kempton, held a room full of adults so well that people were very quickly willing to be silly, to get things wrong, and to be properly vulnerable in front of others. She wasn't commanding the room in any way that felt obvious. It wasn't anything particular about her voice or taking up space but she had us hanging on her every word and willing to do as she asked.

And that's what I've been reflecting on since then. We tend to think of executive presence as something we project - how we carry ourselves, how our words land, how composed we seem under pressure. All of this is true but the people with the most presence I've ever encountered have something else going on: their presence is for the people in the room, not about themselves.

It's what good improvisers do. They listen instead of rehearsing their next line. They respond to what's actually happening rather than what they planned. And the rules of improv dictate that you create ease for the other people on the stage to keep things moving forward.

Think about the colleague whose calm makes everyone else calmer when a deadline shifts or the chair whose meetings feel safe enough for people to say the difficult thing. They're not performing presence at anyone - their presence helps the others in the room to do their thing well.

So if I could pop one more little page into Chapter 8, it wouldn't be a fourth ingredient. It would be a couple of lines about what the other three are for. Gravitas, communication and sound judgement matter most when they make the people around you feel steadier - when your composure is a bit contagious.

A couple of questions to leave you with:

🟠 Who in your working life makes a room feel safer just by being in it? What are they actually doing?

🟠 And in your next meeting, what would change if your presence was for the others in the room, rather than about you?

See you soon!

Sarah

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I'm working with corporate clients on talent development and retention in 2026. If you're in a role where you support the development of others, you’re always welcome to reach out for a conversation - be that for group coaching on the Core Career Dials, training your managers on how to have excellent career development conversations, or something more bespoke.