HARDCORE PORN AND EXECUTIVE PRESENCE

1964.  CLEVELAND, OHIO.

Mr. Jacobellis, who runs a small independent cinema, has a fondness for foreign films.  Especially foreign films that are a bit racy.  Films that show more skin than the upstanding citizens of Cleveland are comfortable with.

These films used to be called “blue movies.”  In 2017 they are called “PG.”

Outraged Cleveland cops arrested Mr. Jacobellis under charges of obscenity.

He appealed his case and it went all the way to the Supreme Court where the charge was overturned, and Mr. Jacobellis went free to portray as many French breasts as he wished.

The landmark opinion on his case came from Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, who declared that the US Constitution protects freedom of expression including obscenity, except for “hardcore pornography.”

Which of course raises an intriguing question.

What makes pornography “hardcore?”  

Defining that could make for a fun debate over a few drinks on Friday night.

But you can imagine how awkward it would be for a supreme court justice to write a legal opinion defining “hardcore porn.”

It might require Penthouse Letter detail.  And of course, lots of pictures.

(If you are ever inclined to write a letter to Penthouse, it’s easy.  Just make sure your opening line is, “I never thought this would happen to me…”)

In his opinion Justice Stewart wisely refused to define what makes pornography hardcore.

Instead he wrote very simply, “I know it when I see it.”

And we do, don’t we?

We may not be able to put words to something, but we sure know it when we see it.

Which brings me to the main theme of this article, which unexpectedly (disappointingly?) is not hardcore porn, but Executive Presence.

Because I have this idea.

My idea is that Executive Presence is super hard to define.

And that we know it when we see it.

Because I demonstrate so much personal Executive Presence (ahem…) I am sometimes asked to lead workshops on the topic.  Which is a pretty hard thing to do for me, since the topic seems largely undefinable.

So what I do is start the workshop with a slideshow of pictures.

Pictures of celebrities, average people, animals, and I ask the audience to vote “yes” or “no” for whether or not each image represents Executive Presence.

Amazingly, we do know it when we see it.  The audience votes are consistent at about 95%.

My Japanese wife doesn’t know who Bob Marley is.

(I realize that this is a tragedy that should be discussed in great detail and remedied as soon as possible.)

When I first came up with this idea of a slide show, I did a dry run on my wife, and we came to the below picture and she said “I don’t know who that is, but wow, yes he has it.”

For the record, my audiences are thumbs down on Justin Bieber having it.

Thumbs up on Michelle Obama.

And at a score of 100%, the lion beats out everyone.

Sometimes it’s easier to define things not by what they are, but by what they are not.

Here are my very subjective views, in a very incomplete list, on what Executive Presence is not.

• it isn’t late

• it isn’t early

• it isn’t rushed

• it doesn’t know too little

• it doesn’t know too much

• it doesn’t say too little

• it doesn’t say too much

• it isn’t loud

• it isn’t frustrated

• it isn’t angry

• it doesn’t spin its pen between its fingers

• it doesn’t reply to every email

• its schedule isn’t always full

• you know it when you see it

Questions for Self-reflection

1.    Who comes to mind when you think of Executive Presence?

2.    What qualities does that person have that make you think so?