S1 E2 · Practice Guide
The Performance Audit
Free companion workbook · Executive Presence is Broken
Executive presence has become a euphemism for conformity dressed up in boardroom lighting. This guide is the companion to S1 E2 of Brave Proximity, where Marissa Green and Susan Page dismantle the polished pretender standard and make the case for something harder and more durable: showing up as yourself in a room that expects the performance. Use it to audit the gap between the leader you perform and the leader you actually are.
What’s inside
The Mask Inventory
1
Which aspects of your professional presence are genuinely you — and which are performance? A no-softeners audit of the persona you've built and what it's actually costing you to maintain it.
The Polished Pretender Check
2
Three signals that your presence is protecting you rather than connecting you — and what the cost of that protection is in real leadership currency, measured in trust and impact.
The Content vs. Performance Pivot
3
A worksheet to shift your focus from how you appear to what you actually say. The most radical executive presence move is delivering something worth remembering.
The Authentic Leadership Script
4
Word-for-word language for showing up as yourself in a room that expects the polished version — and why that move builds more authority than the alternative.