The Uncommon Executive

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Feb 2025

Your superpower is a strength that makes you stand out as a leader. It is what you can do better than most as a leader. Superpowers often start as innate preferences honed through experience.&nbsp; Take a short quiz to find your executive superpower and in what contexts it is most valued.

Discover Your Superpower

Have you felt the sudden attention shift to focus on someone entering the room? Or the collective sigh of relief when someone speaks up during a group meeting to put the discussion back on course? Or the unmistakable voice of respect one person uses for another? This is executive presence. It is made up of multiple components put together, and it can be learned.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Components of Executive Presence

Master Executive Presence & Communication

Principal Product Manager

Senior Director, User Experience

Unleash Your Superpowers: Chart Your Path To Executive Leadership

Organization Change Manager

Senior Product Manager - AI for Enterprise

Principal Product Manager, Analytics, Insights, and Metrics

Senior Manager, Corporate Strategy 

Manager, Product Innovation

Principal Technical Program Manager

Senior Technical Product Manager

Welcome! Unlock your potential as a leader with our comprehensive course on Executive Presence and Communication. Designed for emerging leaders and seasoned professionals alike, this course focuses on developing the key traits that distinguish impactful leaders. You will learn to communicate with clarity and confidence, and project authority in every interaction. Through practical exercises, use cases, and real-world examples, we will explore the essentials of effective body language, voice control, and emotional intelligence. The course offers numerous practice scenarios to help you apply what you've learned in realistic contexts, along with live Q&amp;A sessions and events to deepen your understanding and engagement. By the end of the course, you will be equipped with the tools to influence and inspire others, manage high-stakes conversations, and project gravitas. Join us to enhance your leadership capabilities, build authentic connections, and drive your career success. --- Expected outcomes: ﻿- Enhanced Communication Skills: Clear, confident, and effective communication- Improved Body Language: Learning to use non-verbal cues to project authority and confidence.- Build Emotional Intelligence: Learn a proven method to understand others and manage your own in difficult times.- Influence and Persuasion: Techniques to effectively persuade and motivate others.- Increase Your Power and Confidence: Build self-assurance to lead and influence others effectively. --- Real World TestedMany of the tactics and examples included are gleaned from Yue's personal experience as a C-level executive and coaching hundreds of other senior executives and leaders. Course content is also based on Yue's personal experiences building her executive presence as a double minority to get promoted from PM to CPO in less than 15 years, landing mission-critical roles at Tier 1 startups and Meta alike. Proven method with 100+ clients and workshop attendees to increase your impact at work while decreasing stress and avoiding burnout. --- Alumni from: Slack, OpenAI, Instacart, Guild Education, SurveyMonkey, Paypal, Braze, Meta, Instagram, Thumbtack, Sequoia-backed Tier I Startups, Google, Capitol One, Figma, Microsoft, and more. Well-loved and EffectiveA version of this course was run on Reforge with 90% promoters for the content and 98% promoters for the instructor. -----This is one of three Maven courses by Yue designed to help women and minority leaders fast-track to the C-suite. * Mastering Executive Presence &amp; Communication: https://maven.com/yuezhao/execpre* Chart Your Path to Executive Leadership: https://maven.com/yuezhao/superpowers* Self-Advocacy and Influencing Upwards: https://maven.com/yuezhao/selfadvocacy For more, Yue also runs The Uncommon Executive Leadership Launchpad, an 8-week leadership transformation program that helps women and minority leaders fast-track to executive levels. The program covers the topics above and adds additional topics like sponsorship, relationship building, and building sustainability in your career. It also combines curriculum with coaching and community in a way you will not find anywhere else. Check out the full program here: https://www.yuezhao.coach/accelerate ----

Gain Respect, Inspire Confidence, and lead with Greater Impact

Provide a brief description for each module as a way to sell the value of what students will be learning throughout the course.

First Module

Second Module

Third Module

Course syllabus

If your events are recurring and at the same time, it might be easiest to use a single line item to communicate your course schedule to students

Tuesdays & Thursdays

Feel free to type out dates as your title as a way to communicate information about specific live sessions or other events.

May 7, 2022

Schedule items can also be used to convey commitments outside of specific time slots (like weekly projects or daily office hours).

Weekly projects

Course schedule

Senior Managers, Directors, and Principal ICs who aspire to be executives. Min 4 years of work experience.

Those feeling overlooked or talked over, and want to increase their power and influence in their organization

Those who want to better manage and control a room, get noticed and get ahead.

Who is this course for

What you’ll get out of this course

Learn why executive presence and communication are important for career advancement. Know the components that make up executive presence and how to apply them effectively in verbal communication.

Which areas of executive presence you need to focus on most

80%+ of communication is non-verbal. Maintain a powerful posture at the table and virtually. Have your presence acknowledged. Learn to use your appearance to your advantage. Accessorize your way to visibility and power.

Tailored approaches to polish your appearance and posture to gain respect

Improve your body language, voice control, and emotional intelligence. Learn how to develop a commanding presence, gain respect, and improve your leadership capabilities.

Communicate like a C-suite executive

Learn how to effectively facilitate board reviews, C-suite conversations, and large group meetings. Balance listening with action, directness with kindness.

Manage High-Stakes Conversations

Women and Minorities have additional challenges they face when it comes to holding power and influence. Learn unique tactics for balancing gender and cultural norms and contradictory expectations!

Overcome biases women & minorities face

Maintain and enhance executive presence during virtual meetings. Tips on appearance, background, technology, and communication techniques to increase your power through video.

Tactics for virtual and remote-first workplaces

Develop a commanding presence and gain respect. Increase your gravitas, manage high-stakes conversations, and get your ideas heard.

Yue Zhao

Doing a lot but not getting noticed?Feeling stuck in place?Wondering whether you should stick it out or head elsewhere? Learn how to tailor your work to best leverage your leadership superpowers.Did you know that at the highest levels of leadership, companies are often looking for spiky talent, not "well-rounded" leaders?Shift your mindset. Ruthlessly prioritize your time to focus on the work that helps you stand out. When you align your work to your superpower, you'll deliver more impact, get noticed, and move up into executive leadership fast. --- Focus on strength-based growth* Take your leadership strengths and what you love to do and turn them into your superpower* Learn real-life examples of superpowers of famous executives like Fiji Simo, Steve Jobs, and more.* Know potential pitfalls (or “shadows”) of your superpower* Manage multiple superpowers and adapt them to different leadership roles Craft your career trajectory * Craft your pitch for projects that showcase your superpower* Turn your superpower into your personal brand* Ditch the work that isn't getting you ahead. Get promoted* Build a positive cycle of delivering impact and advocating for your work* Incorporate your superpower into performance reviews and promotion processes --- When you reach a certain level in the workplace, it is no longer about shoring up your weaknesses.Instead, focusing on your strengths will get you further, and faster. Learn how to align your work to your superpower and career progression not only possible, but inevitable. --- What you will learn* Map your superpower to the type of projects and work environment that uniquely values your strengths.* Prioritize how you spend time and what projects you take on* Learn how to delegate or say "no" to projects that fall outside your superpowers* How to advocate for your wins and build your personal brand* Translate your superpower into a strong promotion narrative. --- Course content is based on Yue's personal experience leveraging her leadership superpowers to get promoted from PM to CPO in less than 15 years, landing mission-critical roles at Tier 1 startups and Meta alike. She also leveraged her superpowers to transition industries from consulting to product management to venture capital. Alumni from: Slack, OpenAI, Instacart, Guild Education, SurveyMonkey, Paypal, Braze, Meta, Instagram, Thumbtack, Sequoia-backed Tier I Startups, Google, Capitol One, Figma, Microsoft, and more. Well-loved and EffectiveA version of this course was run on Reforge with 90% promoters for the content and 98% promoters for the instructor. -----This is one of three Maven courses by Yue designed to help women and minority leaders fast-track to the C-suite. * Mastering Executive Presence &amp; Communication: https://maven.com/yuezhao/execpre* Chart Your Path to Executive Leadership: https://maven.com/yuezhao/superpowers* Self-Advocacy and Influencing Upwards: https://maven.com/yuezhao/selfadvocacy For more, Yue also runs The Uncommon Executive Leadership Launchpad, an 8-week leadership transformation program that helps women and minority leaders fast-track to executive levels. The program covers the topics above and adds additional topics like sponsorship, relationship building, and building sustainability in your career. It also combines curriculum with coaching and community in a way you will not find anywhere else. Check out the full program here: https://www.yuezhao.coach/accelerate ----

Chart Your Path to Executive Leadership Through Focusing On Your Strengths

Focused discussions on the week's material and live Q&amp;A.

Thursdays each week

Personal projects with each lesson are designed to apply theory and examples to your specific environment.

Projects for Async Feedback

Refined and honed through workshops and classes taught at top tech and consumer companies, each lesson is packed with tactics and examples that are relevant and applicable to you and your workplace.

Well-loved, easy-to-digest lessons 

Leaders with more than 4 years of work experience in their industry looking to hone in on an area of strength.

High-achieving leaders who want to deliver more impact while raising the bar for their team.

Leaders who want to figure out what type of company or work is the best fit for their strengths and leadership style

Are you a turnaround guru? Visionary leader? Team builder? Are you uniquely able to see the special talent in others? Stay extra calm under pressure? Follow a proven method to identity your superpower based on your strengths and passions.

Discover Your Leadership Superpowers

Startups look for visionaries. Scaling growth companies look for seasoned operators. Work with me to transition to projects and places where you'll be invaluable to the business.

Supercharge your impact at work - become irreplaceable and get promoted

Learn tactics to advocate for your business impact and wins. Get feedback from myself and the community on your personal brand -- the external articulation of your superpower.

Build your personal brand to land a stretch role 

Superpowers help you deliver more impact with less work. Learn tactics and frameworks to improve your energy flow throughout the day, recharge quickly between meetings, and maintain a sustainable workload while taking on stretch projects.

Decrease your stress and improve your work-life balance 

Get tailored support throughout the course through projects and live Q&amp;A sessions. Hear directly from Yue how she aligned her superpower to her career, landing her in the C-suite and a 7-figure income in 15 years.

Get personalized feedback (not just theory)

Chart your path to the executive level by leaning into your leadership superpowers. Find environments that value you for who you are.

Stop getting told what to do. Learn how to advocate for and effectively influence your work and your team's work. Get your perspectives and ideas heard and resourced. Make decisions that stick. Gain the trust of your executive team. In Western business culture, leaders are vocal, assertive, and opinionated. As someone rising through the ranks, we’re often praised for being hard-working, modest, and flexible. If you want to be viewed as a leader, it’s important to find and develop your voice and the best ways to get your perspectives heard by your teams and the company.&nbsp; As you increase in seniority, it becomes increasingly important to advocate for your perspectives and ideas in addition to your wins and impact. If you want people to follow you, then you must let them know what you value and stand for. For aspiring executives, it is never too early to start getting your ideas heard across the organization. The more people who believe in your ideas and your approaches, the more influence you’ll have at the company. Companies promote people who have influence and can make decisions that stick. Take this course to make self-advocacy a regular part of your work. Build in systems to broadcast your accomplishments. Dedicate time to relationship building and talking about ideas. These are just as important to becoming a leader as "doing the work". --- Alumni from: Slack, OpenAI, Instacart, Guild Education, SurveyMonkey, Paypal, Braze, Meta, Instagram, Thumbtack, Sequoia-backed Tier I Startups, Google, Capitol One, Figma, Microsoft, and more. Well-loved and EffectiveA version of this course was run on Reforge with 90% promoters for the content and 98% promoters for the instructor. -----This is one of three Maven courses by Yue designed to help women and minority leaders fast-track to the C-suite. * Mastering Executive Presence &amp; Communication: https://maven.com/yuezhao/execpre* Chart Your Path to Executive Leadership: https://maven.com/yuezhao/superpowers* Self-Advocacy and Influencing Upwards: https://maven.com/yuezhao/selfadvocacy For more, Yue also runs The Uncommon Executive Leadership Launchpad, an 8-week leadership transformation program that helps women and minority leaders fast-track to executive levels. The program covers the topics above and adds additional topics like sponsorship, relationship building, and building sustainability in your career. It also combines curriculum with coaching and community in a way you will not find anywhere else. Check out the full program here: https://www.yuezhao.coach/accelerate ----

Advocate for yourself and your ideas. Manage upwards successfully.

You work hard but don't get noticed. Someone else steals the credit for your work or your ideas.

You are performing well and get lots of praise. You get more of the same type of work but not stretch projects.

You want to learn how to get buy-in and resources for your ideas but aren't making progress.

Does it feel like bragging? Does it not feel like a part of getting the work done? Learn how to make "talking about your work" align with your values.

How to advocate for your work without bragging

Build a system into your daily work so that you are regularly talking about your accomplishments (and that of your team).

Develop a system to prioritize "talking about your work"

As you move up, it moves from advocating for your accomplishments to advocating for your ideas. Learn how to go about pitching your ideas to senior leadership.

How to get your ideas heard by senior leadership

Learn a proven method to getting ahead: high performance and strong relationships with your peers and your leaders.

Turn high performance and strong relationships into getting ahead

Stop getting told what to do. Learn how to advocate for and effectively influence your work and your team's work. 

Nail Your Executive Presence in High Stakes Settings

Chief Product & Technology Officer, Leadership coach, Author, Ex-Meta, McKinsey

Lorraine K. Lee

Teaches communication @ Stanford Continuing Studies, Speaker, Prev. Dir @ Prezi

How to facilitate well as a contributor, leader, or executive

How to Manage the Room Based On Your Seniority

How to "think on your feet" when you need to think before you speak

3 Tips for introverts to increase their presence

2 frameworks for communicating with confidence with executives.

How to speak with confidence with executives

How High Performing Execs Manage Their Time

Chief Product Officer turned Career Coach; Ex-Meta, McKinsey, Thumbtack

Allyson Letteri

VP Marketing at Handshake, Startup Advisor

Our calendar dictates how we spend time. Putting thought and effort into it ensures priorities are truly priorities

Calendar management to enforce prioritization

How calendar planning is done differs by horizon. Learn what to look for and why.

Build the quarter, 2-week, daily plan

Allyson will discuss how priorities change for a PMM, VP of Marketing, or startup advisor.

Learn how priorities vary by role

Uncover Your Leadership Superpower to Elevate Your Career

Learn common types of superpowers and where they're most valued

4 examples of leadership superpowers

Proven ways to identify and focus on what makes your leadership unique and irreplacable.

4 ways to hone in on your superpower

Adapt your schedule, project priorities, and more to regain energy and deliver more value.

The Uncommon Executive

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