In Italian culture, how you carry yourself as a leader matters. This goes beyond dressing well, though that is part of it. It means being visible—physically present, personally accessible, seen by your people.
It means projecting competence and confidence in your bearing and communication. It means being prepared, being articulate, commanding a room when the situation requires it.
This is not vanity; it is the cultural expectation that leadership is embodied, not just enacted through decisions and directives. The leader who is invisible—who manages from behind a screen, who avoids public engagement, who does not invest in how they present themselves—is missing a dimension of leadership that Italian colleagues consider essential. Being seen leading is part of leading.
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