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I walked into a boardroom full of executives in suits.

I was wearing Jordans.

Jeans. T-shirt. Relaxed. Comfortable. Me.

I've had people ask me about it. "Why do you feel like you can do that and get away with it?"

Here's my answer.

I like Jordans. They're a reflection of who I am. A reflection of my comfort with myself.

But there's more to it than that. I'm not trying to impress anyone. I'm here to partner with you. To teach. To learn. To grow together. What I wear shouldn't have anything to do with that.

And honestly? I want to feel comfortable so I can show up as the best version of me for you. If I'm adjusting my clothes to fit your expectations, I'm already performing. That doesn't serve you.

Presence is the second dimension on The Intention Gap Scorecard.

Let me tell you why this matters for me.

I run MindsetShift. The work requires me to show up in environments where I don't know anyone. I'm working with senior leaders, often older than me, often in countries that aren't mine. I'm a black man from Nigeria, raised in the UK, sometimes working in the US. An introvert walking into rooms full of executives who don't look like me.

None of that is set up in my favour.

There are so many things working against me before I even open my mouth. The assumptions people make. The boxes they try to put me in. The discomfort that can come from being the only one in the room who looks like you.

And yet, when I show up, I show up as myself.

But it wasn't always this way.

There was a time when I'd walk into those rooms and my palms would be sweating. My chest would tighten. Every internal voice was screaming at me.

"You don't belong here. They're going to see through you. Don't say too much. Don't take up too much space."

I'd show up armoured. Guarded. Withdrawn. Performing a version of myself that felt safe. The version that wouldn't offend. The version that would blend in. The version that protected me from rejection.

And here's the thing about armour. It protects you, yes. But it also keeps you in a cage. It limits your movement. It blocks connection. The very thing you think is keeping you safe is actually keeping you small.

I had to learn to push through that. Not because the fear disappeared. It didn't. But because I realised that performing wasn't serving me. And worse, it wasn't serving the people around me. My team. My clients. The leaders I was supposed to be helping.

How could I ask them to be authentic if I was hiding behind a mask?

Here's the truth about presence. It's not easy. None of us show up fully by default.

We're all performing to some degree. Adjusting ourselves based on internal voices that tell us we're not enough and external environments that reinforce the message. The boardroom. The culture. The unspoken rules about who gets to take up space.

Recognising this is the first step in closing the intention gap. You have to see the performance before you can drop it. You have to notice the mask before you can take it off.

Not because performance is shameful. It's survival. We all learned to do it for good reasons. But at some point, survival becomes a limitation. And what once protected you starts to cost you.

Here's what always happens now.

Day one, everyone shows up suited. Formal. Armoured.

There's a stiffness in the room. People are polite but guarded. They're watching each other. Measuring. Figuring out who's safe and who's not.

By day two, the jackets come off. The conversations get a little more honest. Someone cracks a joke that actually lands.

By day three, everyone's in jeans and trainers. The real conversations happen. The walls come down. People say what they actually think instead of what sounds good.

Every single time.

There's a reason I wear Jordans now more than ever.

They start conversations. And those conversations lead somewhere important.

People ask about my trainers, and suddenly we're not talking about strategy or KPIs. We're talking about comfort. About identity. About what it means to show up as yourself in spaces that weren't designed for you.

Comfort leads to identity. Identity leads to authenticity. Authenticity leads to trust. That's what I'm modelling. Presence isn't about perfection. It's about permission to be yourself so others can be themselves too.

That's what real leadership looks like.

This is what the second dimension measures.

• Do you show up fully or do you perform?
• Do you filter yourself to fit the room?
• Do you shrink to make others comfortable?
• Do you wear a mask so often you've forgotten it's there?

These patterns cost you more than you realise. They cost you connection. They cost you trust. They cost you the impact you're capable of. And they're exhausting. Performing takes energy that could be spent leading.

Over the coming weeks, I'm breaking down each dimension of the scorecard. Last week was decision-making. This week is presence.

Because if you can't be yourself in the room, you can't lead the room.

One question for this week:

• Where are you performing when you could be present?

That question is harder to answer honestly than it looks. The scorecard helps you see what you can't.

The Intention Gap Scorecard is free and takes five minutes. It'll show you exactly where you're falling into the gap and what to do about it.

[Take the scorecard here]

Your homework this week:

Notice when you're acting confident versus actually feeling it. Pay attention to the gap between the mask and the person underneath. That's where the work begins.

Let me know when you've done it.

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