Presence & Being Present

How do you define presence? Magnetism, IT, X-factor, star-quality or je ne sais quois. Brazilian Portuguese offers a special slang for it - jeito which as a personal characteristic means "having a certain way". Whatever word you use to name it, you know it when you see it or even feel it from others. What's more, you know first-hand the contrast between feeling powerfully present when interacting with others and feeling somehow small, lost or distracted.

If you reflect back on greats in any field of endeavor, presence is generally the characteristic commented upon most frequently. In a mere glance at a photograph of Dr. Martin Luther King or Gandhi this powerful presence can be felt. Even looking at a picture of the young Lindsay Lohan, there is an energetic quality that those in the performing arts call stickiness and is something they train themselves to emanate. Clearly, presence isn't just for movie stars but is valuable in any pursuit.

Among the ancients and more recently in management circles the question of presence has become increasingly explored both as a quality that is emanated by one person and felt by others, as well as in the capacity to be present or to make oneself fully present. These two aspects of presence are not unrelated. Think back on the greats in your life - perhaps a family member, teacher, colleague or friend. When you consider the sense of presence you experience with them, give some thought to their level of awareness of themselves in relationship to the world around them.

Thanks to a professional services client in Chicago who urged us to reflect earnestly on the various angles of this quality, this month has been a moving meditation on presence, feeling it from others, within ourselves, and noticing ways to cultivate it actively. Check out the next few posts from our team - we're hopeful you find some new ways to heighten your presence and welcome your suggestions on how to do the same.

Think Better - Passion Play

What we feed grows. It's true of everything, including your thoughts. Think of your most negative friends and your most positive ones too - notice how they scan the world looking for evidence to support their disposition of choice. While it could be argued that by adulthood, such selective processing of the world and events around you is already hard-coded, why not challenge yourself to adopting the highest way of perceiving any one set of events around you? Not unlike the old reminder "WWJD?" (what would jesus do) , use the following steps to find a more inspiring perspective for yourself.

1. Identify a few of the people you admire most when it comes to pursuing your passions. These might be individuals you know or ones you simply know of. The will be risk takers, achievers, exhibitors of your most treasured values and deepest aspirations.

2. Identify what perspective on passion they represent for you - does MLK stand for courage? Does Gandhi stand for walking the talk? What was their fallback manner of being in the face of pursuing what mattered to them?

3. Look at your day today. Remember that even these great leaders had "ordinary days" in which their progress towards their respective goals may have been invisible to the human eye. Remember they were human beings with all the same fears and concerns you hold dearly.

4. When next you find yourself in a moment of uncertainty or conflict, before you call a friend to comiserate the lousy circumstances, take a moment to consult this more enlightened voice. How does the voice of your treasured mentor guide you through whatever it is you are confronting? What is the highest possible outcome for this twist in your story and how do you have to BE to allow that to happen?

This little passion play is the opposite of a pity party. It's the equivalent to that hand that picks you up and brushes off your knees when you fall even before you notice you are down. As you encounter the next twist in your own plot, let this tool remind you to narrate your story to your own happiest ending.