Managers review employee, saying he lacks “executive presence”, for things he did during three prior meetings: ‘I wrote all three down with what actually happened in each, using my notes and my calendar’

Author image for Olivia Arocena
Olivia Arocena • Writer and Editor
Sep 15, 2026 1:45 PM EDT

I've talked about corporate jargon before, but this takes it to a completely different level

What makes remarks like this so disrespectful is that you know they hold a much deeper, personal meaning, but they are expressed in such a dry, professional, and seemingly assertive way that you are forced to smile while, at the same time, you're being openly insulted.

Executive presence is nothing more than a value judgment based on the way you present yourself or speak. They are basically telling you that you don't look the part, and that they won't give you roles that fit that part.

Maybe it is something you can improve; maybe it isn't.

Of course management has the right to decide who'll occupy those roles, but it stings nonetheless.
If one wants to be successful in corporate, one has to find the right, HR-approved ways of saying "I hate you", "I'm going to succeed at this regardless", and "When I get there, you'll be the first person I'll fire if you're not already gone by then".

I think we've all been told something that later turned out not to be true. Or we were told that we weren't fit for a role we were totally fit for. Not everybody has the vision, and you can't blame it. To me, you've got to go with what feels right for you. One should never reject an opportunity to learn and should always remain humble, but nobody can tell you that you lack something and that you will lack it forever. They simply can't know that.

What do you think this word salad actually meant? Do you think this employee still has a chance of escalating within this company, or should he start looking for another job that gives him the opportunity to learn some 'Executive presence'?
 

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  • The executive with the most presence

    Cheezburger Image 10663433472
    via Hunters Race

    The presence in question

    Model portrayal



     

  • my review said i "lack executive presence". tf is that?

    otherwise a good review. delivered warmly and then that phrase, with no definition attached to it. i asked what it meant. she said gravitas, i asked what gravitas looks like in
    via Shubham_lu
  • practice, on a tuesday, in a meeting and there was a pause. so i asked, politely and in writing, for three specific occasions. it took a fortnight. what
    via Shubham_lu
  • came back was a gamma deck listing this: i said "sorry" before asking a question on a client call. i did not speak first in a meeting where i was the most junior person in the room. and a third one i could not place at all.
    via Shubham_lu
  • i wrote all three down with what actually happened in each, using my notes and my calendar. not as a rebuttal. just what happened. the third one was a meeting i was not in.
    via Shubham_lu
  • it has not been mentioned since and it is not in the written version of the review. i am not posting this as a brag but as advice. the thing i keep thinking about is that i nearly just
    via Shubham_lu
  • Cheezburger Image 10663433984
    via Ruthson Zimmerman

    Is presence changeable?

    Licensed media provided as editorial context



     

  • accepted it, and if i had, i'd be spending the next year trying to fix something that was never there. if you get feedback you cannot picture, ask for the occasion. not the definition, the specific occasion.
    via Shubham_lu
  • malthar76 I've given this feedback. I meant it as a way to tell a solid individual contributor that they would not be well suited to managing a team, and/or they could interact with leaders one level up
    via malthar76
  • but that they would not show well in front of much higher executives. Needed to work on confidence, story telling ability, building a wider reputation for delivering the goods. Yes, and knowing how to schmooze, stroke egos, and disagree in tactful ways.
    via Shubham_lu
  • jonahbenton Asking for specifics is useful if you are in a courtroom and there is a defined process around the assembly of evidence in support of an argument. The real world and the specifically the building of professional
    via jonahbenton
  • reputation does not work that way, for better and worse. If you are told you lack executive presence, and then you fool yourself into thinking your litigation around specifics proves that
    via Shubham_lu
  • critique wrong- then what you have done is told on yourself that indeed you lack an understanding of what it means to be a leader.
    via Shubham_lu
  • Cheezburger Image 10663434240
    via Christian Velitchkov

    The employee reading the nonsensical feedback

    Scene shown is a visual representation



     

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workplace-stories toxic-workplace work workplace toxic-work-environment
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