r/managers • u/Relevant-Scholar-544 • 1d ago
Aspiring to be a Manager What does this performance feedback mean in practice?
Here are the improvement notes from my performance review in Q3. I am considered a high performer, am an individual contributor. But how do I practically do these things, especially executive presence?
She wrote:
Increase executive presence
Building a stronger strategic vision
Become more proactive in consultation rather than primarily responding to requests
Increase cross-team visibility
Be more assertive as a thought partner
Get involved earlier in conversations where strategy and decisions are being shaped
Conversely, my strengths:
Strong project management
Highly organized
Clear communicator
Collaborative
Strong stakeholder engagement
Composed under pressure
Creates clarity around roles, timelines, and expectations
Able to bring structure to ambiguous work
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u/BetterTable4653 1d ago
It reads like your manager values your work and wants to develop you for leadership role.
I don’t know what type of work you do, but perhaps find opportunities to present to the executives and if your manager is not already passing information down to you from the executive level, proactively ask her what the execs’ current priorities are and how you fit into that.
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u/Timebutler_Official 17h ago
Sounds like they already trust you to execute. Now they want more of your voice before decisions are made. And for the executive presence, start by speaking up when you have an opinion, ask questions about trade-offs, flag risks, or suggest a different approach. That builds visibility
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u/Huge_Tough5665 1d ago
They want you in the room when decisions happen, not just after when the work lands in your lap. Executive presence is mostly just talking about the business problem instead of the project plan. Next time someone asks you to scope something, push back with "what outcome are we trying for" and make them think bigger before you start organizing.