The decision to start Signal Leadership Ventures was the culmination of a pattern I kept
seeing everywhere I looked.
I had spent years in corporate environments and had seen talented leaders receive feedback
that was surprisingly difficult to act on. They were told they needed to be more strategic,
more influential, or to improve their executive presence, but nobody could clearly explain
what those things actually meant or how to develop them. Leaders and their managers often
knew there was a gap, but they lacked a common language to describe it. The conversation
rarely centered on competence. It was about how someone was showing up, communicating,
influencing, and being experienced by others.
The idea crystallized while I was in graduate school. My classmates came from across
Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America. Again and again, I heard the same message: “I
wish someone would teach us these skills.” Regardless of where they planned to work, they
felt there was an unwritten set of leadership expectations that affected careers but was rarely
taught in a practical way.
Then COVID changed the workplace. So many leaders lost a sense of confidence as they navigated uncertainty, remote environments, diverse cultural perspectives and multi-generational teams. Building trust, influencing stakeholders and reading a room became much harder through a screen. Years later, most organizations are still struggling to develop effective leadership presence within teams.
At the same time, the existing executive presence models felt outdated. They were too focused on prescribed behaviors, style, or polish, and not enough on the realities of modern leadership. That combination convinced me there was a better way, a more measurable and actionable way.
Executive presence needed a clearer language, a more practical framework,
and an approach that could help leaders build trust, influence, and credibility wherever they
lead in the world.
