🎯 How to Show Your Executive Presence

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🔹 Leadership Roles (Talent Pool)
Company: n8n
Location: Remote – Berlin/EU, United States & United Kingdom
Apply: Apply Here
n8n, the open-source AI orchestration platform, maintains a Leadership Talent Pool to connect with exceptional leaders for future Director, Head, and VP roles. This pool isn’t tied to a specific opening but welcomes experienced leaders in go-to-market, product, engineering, operations, or people functions. Ideal candidates have a proven track record of building and scaling high-performing teams, setting strategic direction, and driving execution with empathy, transparency, and ownership. Benefits include competitive pay, equity, generous vacation, and health coverage.

🔹 Director of PMO & Operations
Company: inDrive
Location: London, UK
Format: Hybrid
Apply: Apply Here
Reporting to the Chief Ride-Hailing Officer, this role drives business planning, leads the Market Operations PMO, and ensures risk management and operational efficiency across inDrive’s ride-hailing division. The Director manages budgeting, procurement, and process improvement while aligning operations with corporate strategy. Requires 7 + years of experience in business or project management (preferably in tech or mobility), strong analytical skills, and fluency in English and Russian.

🔹 Head of Delivery, Americas
Company: SimCorp
Location: New York, NY
Format: Hybrid (3 days per week in office)
Apply: Apply Here
SimCorp seeks a Head of Delivery to oversee program delivery across the Americas. The role ensures efficient, high-quality execution, leads client relationships, manages escalations, and drives standardization across delivery teams. Requires strong program-management and leadership experience in complex enterprise environments and the ability to collaborate globally with senior stakeholders.

🔹 Head of Public Sector Delivery – GenAI
Company: Scale AI
Location: Washington, DC
Format: On-site with ~30 % travel
Apply: Apply Here
Scale AI is hiring a Head of Public Sector Delivery to lead AI/ML solutions for government clients. This player-coach role manages engagement and technical program managers, refines delivery processes, mitigates risk, and deepens client relationships. Requires an active TS/SCI clearance, 8 + years of customer-facing technical program management (preferably AI or government), and strong leadership skills.

🔹 Head of Events
Company: Brex
Location: New York, NY
Format: Hybrid (2 office days per week; remote up to 4 weeks/year)
Apply: Apply Here
Brex seeks a Head of Events to design and lead its global event strategy for brand visibility and customer engagement. The leader manages large-scale conferences, partner activations, and executive events while aligning programming with company goals. Requires 8 + years in event marketing or strategy, experience leading teams and budgets, and ability to travel up to 50 %.

🔹 Head of Transformation Office
Company: MarketAxess
Location: New York, NY
Format: Full-time
Apply: Apply Here
MarketAxess is hiring a Head of Transformation Office to drive enterprise-wide transformation initiatives and establish a centralized PMO. Responsibilities include leading strategic change programs, defining delivery governance, setting KPIs, and tracking performance across portfolios. Ideal candidates have 15 + years’ experience leading transformation in financial services, expertise in PMO setup and governance, and exceptional communication skills.

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Bots Take the Wheel

The Problem: By the time you realize a project is off track, it's already in crisis mode and everyone's scrambling.

The Fix: Automate early warning signals so at-risk projects surface before they become fires.

Real Use Cases:

TL;DR: Stop relying on weekly status reports to surface project risks. Automate the signals that predict failure—velocity drops, overdue tasks, blocker accumulation—so you can intervene early instead of cleaning up disasters.

Visionary Voices

In a powerful display of principled leadership, Sumaiya Balbale made headlines this past August when she resigned from her role as Chief Operating Officer at Sequoia Capital after five years with the prestigious venture capital firm. But this departure—driven by standing firm on her values as a practicing Muslim woman—represents just the latest chapter in a career defined by strategic pivots and fearless industry jumps.

The Art of Strategic Career Moves

Balbale's career trajectory reads like a masterclass in strategic positioning. She has consistently followed her mentors' advice to "pick hard paths," noting: "I learned what I am capable of. If you jump into something and don't have a lifeline, you figure out how to swim."

Her journey began in advertising, working as a brand strategist and account planner at FCB and Deutsch for clients like IKEA, Novartis, and SC Johnson. But rather than climbing the traditional agency ladder, she made her first bold pivot into e-commerce.

The Amazon Acquisition Play

From 2010 through 2014, Balbale worked for Quidsi, a collection of specialty e-commerce verticals, serving in leadership roles at Amazon e-commerce verticals including GM of Diapers.com and Casa.com. This wasn't just a job change—it was positioning herself at the center of e-commerce innovation during its explosive growth phase.

The Jet.com Leap

Perhaps her boldest early career move came in 2014. Balbale left her established position to become Chief Marketing Officer of Jet.com, an e-commerce startup founded by Marc Lore. This wasn't just another startup—she was betting on a founder with a proven track record, but taking the significant risk of joining an unproven company.

The bet paid off spectacularly. Walmart acquired Jet for $3.3 billion in 2016 and retained key players, including Lore and Balbale. This acquisition positioned her for her next major leap.

The Walmart Scale-Up

Rather than cashing out after the acquisition, Balbale continued operating in a dual capacity for both Jet.com and Walmart during the first year of the acquisition, before becoming VP of E-commerce, Mobile and Digital Marketing for Walmart US from 2017 to 2019.

The results were staggering: She helped deliver two consecutive years of +40% growth for the e-commerce business while also leading and transforming the digital media, social media, marketing analytics and marketing technology capabilities of the organization.

The Venture Capital Industry Jump

In her most audacious career move, Balbale left her position at Walmart in June 2019 and transitioned to an entirely new industry, accepting the role of CMO at Sequoia Capital in 2020. This wasn't just a job change—it was a complete industry pivot from retail operations to venture capital.

Close advisers encouraged the e-commerce veteran to make the industry switch, believing risky career moves could dispel stereotypes about Muslim women. As she explained: "I felt the urge to achieve significance—despite how insignificant others seemed to want to make me feel."

Recognition and Board Leadership

Her strategic career positioning paid off with significant recognition. She was named one of Fortune's 40 under 40 in 2018, and has served on the Board of Directors of Shake Shack since March 2019.

Lessons for Delivery Leaders

Balbale's career offers five critical insights for ambitious delivery professionals:

1. Strategic Industry Timing: She didn't just change jobs—she positioned herself in growth industries (e-commerce, venture capital) at inflection points.

2. Acquisition-Driven Growth: Her moves from Quidsi to Jet.com to Walmart show how to leverage acquisitions for career acceleration.

3. Operational Excellence as Currency: Her track record of delivering measurable results (+40% growth) became her calling card for bigger opportunities.

4. Cross-Industry Translation: Her jump from retail operations to venture capital demonstrates how operational expertise translates across industries.

5. Values-Driven Decision Making: Her principled departure from Sequoia shows that staying true to your values, even when costly, can define lasting impact.

The Bigger Picture

Balbale has spoken about how "my gender, ethnicity and faith compelled me to be ambitious in a way that I don't know if I otherwise would have been." Her career arc—from advertising strategist to venture capital COO—proves that delivery professionals who think strategically about positioning and aren't afraid of industry jumps can achieve extraordinary influence.

For our community, Balbale represents the evolution from tactical executor to strategic architect. She's proof that the best career moves aren't always up—sometimes they're across, into industries and roles that amplify your operational strengths in new ways.

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Professional Development

Here's the uncomfortable truth:

You might already have executive presence. You might have the judgment, the expertise, the strategic thinking.

But if people don't see it, it doesn't exist.

Executive presence isn't just about being capable. It's about signaling capability in ways that land with the right people at the right moments.

Let's talk about how to show what you've already built.

Most delivery professionals with strong executive presence make the same mistake:

They wait to be asked before sharing their expertise.
They defer to "more senior" people in meetings.
They assume good work will speak for itself.

It won't.

Here's what actually happens when you stay quiet:

The Reality:
Executive presence isn't about having good judgment. It's about demonstrating it at the moments that matter.

People evaluate executive presence through three channels:

How you show up (body language, tone, energy)
What you say (substance, clarity, judgment)
What you don't say (restraint, listening, strategic silence)

Let's break down each one.

The mistake most people make:
They think executive presence means being louder, more confident, more assertive.

The reality:
Executive presence is about calm authority. It's the energy that says: "I've seen this before. I know how to handle it."

Tactical Ways to Show Up:

A. Control Your Physical Space

B. Manage Your Energy

C. Read the Room

Example:

Bad: You're in an exec meeting. Someone asks a hard question. You immediately jump in with an answer, talking fast, trying to prove you know the answer.

Good: You pause. You lean forward slightly. You say: "Good question. Here's what I'd consider..." Then you walk through your thinking clearly and concisely.

The difference? The second approach signals: "I've thought about this deeply. I'm not reacting—I'm analyzing."

The mistake most people make:
They over-explain. They provide too much detail. They sound tactical, not strategic.

The reality:
Executives value clarity and decisiveness. They don't want to hear every step of your process. They want to know: What's your call? Why? What happens next?

Tactical Ways to Communicate Like an Executive:

A. Lead with the Bottom Line

Structure every statement like this:

Example:

Tactical (doesn't land):
"So we've been analyzing the data and looking at different options, and there are some pros and cons to each approach. On one hand, we could do X, but that has risks. On the other hand, Y might work but it'll take longer. I think we need to discuss..."

Executive (lands):
"I recommend we move forward with approach X. It carries some execution risk, but it's the only path that gets us to launch by Q2. I'll own mitigation. Next step is aligning engineering leads by Friday."

The difference? The second version signals decisiveness and ownership.

B. Use "I Recommend" Instead of "I Think"

"I think" sounds tentative.
"I recommend" sounds decisive.

C. Speak in Outcomes, Not Activities

Executives don't care about tasks. They care about results.

Tactical: "We've been running sprints, doing standups, and tracking velocity."
Executive: "We're on track to ship by EOQ with 95% confidence."

Tactical: "We're planning to have a meeting with stakeholders."
Executive: "We're aligning stakeholders on the go/no-go decision by Wednesday."

The pattern: Outcomes > Activities.

D. Use the "Three-Point Rule"

Executives have short attention spans. If you give them 7 points, they'll remember 0.

Instead, structure everything in threes:

"There are three risks we're managing..."
"Here are the three options..."
"I need three things from this group..."

Why it works: It's memorable, it's concise, and it signals you've done the thinking.

E. Own the Hard Truths

Executive presence isn't about sugarcoating problems. It's about stating them clearly and owning the path forward.

Weak: "We're facing some challenges with the timeline..."
Strong: "We're going to miss the original date. Here's why, and here's the new plan."

The pattern: State the problem clearly. Own the solution. Don't hedge.

The mistake most people make:
They feel pressure to contribute to every conversation. They comment on everything. They never let silence sit.

The reality:
Restraint is a form of executive presence.

Knowing when not to speak signals:

Tactical Ways to Use Silence:

A. Don't Comment on Everything

If 10 topics come up in a meeting, speak on 2-3. Choose the moments where:

Why it works: When you speak less frequently, people listen more carefully.

B. Let Silence Do the Work

After you make a key point, stop talking. Don't fill the silence with more explanation.

Example:

You: "I recommend we kill this project. It's not aligned with our strategy, and continuing will cost us 6 months."
[Silence]
[Let them sit with it. Don't immediately add: "But I mean, we could keep going if you think..." That kills your authority.]

C. Ask Questions Instead of Giving Answers

Sometimes the most powerful move is to reframe the conversation with a question.

Instead of: "Here's what I think we should do..."
Try: "Before we decide, what outcome are we optimizing for here?"

Why it works: It signals strategic thinking. You're forcing the room to clarify first principles before jumping to tactics.

D. Use "Let Me Think on That"

If you don't have a strong opinion yet, don't fake one.

Say: "Good question. Let me think on that and get back to you tomorrow."

Why it works: It signals thoughtfulness over reactivity. Executives don't need to have instant answers. They need to have right answers.

Executive presence plays differently depending on the setting. Here's how to calibrate:

A. In 1:1s with Executives

B. In Executive Meetings

C. In Cross-Functional Meetings

D. In Writing (Emails, Docs, Slack)

Example Email:

Bad:
"Hi Team, I wanted to follow up on our conversation from last week about the project timeline. As you know, we've been tracking progress and there are some concerns..."

Good:
"Decision needed: Recommend pushing launch from June 15 → July 1 due to engineering dependencies. Allows us to ship without cutting scope. Need approval by EOD Friday."

These are the small behaviors that 10x your executive presence:

A. Own the Room Early

In every meeting, say something substantive within the first 10 minutes. It doesn't have to be long—even a clarifying question signals engagement.

Why it works: People form impressions fast. If you're silent for 30 minutes, they've already categorized you as "not a key player."

B. Reframe the Conversation

When discussions get stuck in the weeds, bring them back to strategy.

"Before we go further, let's level-set: What's the outcome we're trying to drive here?"

Why it works: It signals strategic thinking and leadership.

C. Summarize and Synthesize

After a long, meandering discussion, be the person who says:

"Let me make sure I've got this: We've agreed on X, we're still debating Y, and the next step is Z. Is that right?"

Why it works: You're creating clarity. That's an executive-level skill.

D. Follow Through Visibly

If you say you'll do something, do it—and make sure people know you did it.

Send the follow-up. Share the doc. Close the loop.

Why it works: Reliability is the foundation of executive presence. If you can't be trusted to follow through, nothing else matters.

Everyone has off days. Here's how to recover:

If you stayed too quiet in a key meeting:

If you over-explained or got too tactical:

If you said something wrong or got called out:

Here's the trap: You think if you just do great work, people will see your executive presence.

They won't.

Great work is table stakes. Executive presence is about how you show up around the work.

You can deliver flawlessly and still be seen as "tactical" if you:

Conversely, you can have some execution gaps and still be seen as "executive-level" if you:

The lesson: Work on both. Execute well and show up well.

TL;DR: Executive presence isn't about being louder or more confident. It's about signaling calm authority through how you show up (body language, energy), what you say (clarity, decisiveness), and what you don't say (strategic silence). Lead with the bottom line. Speak in outcomes, not activities. Use restraint. And most importantly: if you have good judgment, make sure people see it at the moments that matter. Great work alone isn't enough—you have to show them you're executive-level.

Wanna chat IRL? Connect with me on LinkedIn and we can set up some time.

The Delivery Career Decoder shows why you’re already qualified for more—and how to prove it.

I love feedback. If you have topics you want to see? Or thoughts or ideas on how to serve the community better, please hit reply or email [email protected].

Until next time,

The Business of Delivery

Quiet moves. Bold Careers.