Body Language — A Checklist for Leaders

There are many skills a successful leader must possess — strategy building, team leadership, business management and development, consumer and investor relations, to name a few. On a more personal level, self-awareness, body language, how a leader presents him or herself, can be as important as any other skill. Without the air of power, confidence, stability, likeability, and trustworthiness, messages seem weak and sound inconsequential.

Here are a few important body language traits all leaders need to possess with some tips and observations.

  Body Language — Whole Body

• Power Pose First: In the now famous TED Talk on Power Posing, Harvard School of Business social scientist, Amy Cuddy, speaks about a special way of prepping for your presentation, interview, meeting, even a date. It’s the idea you are judged by your non-verbal communication faster (in one second) and more solidly, than what you say. She advocates, and her research validates, that spending just two minutes with your hands on your hips and feet apart (think Superman and Wonder Woman) or hands behind you head, chest out, and feet on the desk, sends signals to your brain influencing your sense of power and confidence, increasing your aggressive hormones (testosterone) and lower your stress hormone (cortisol). This feeling of power can then be carried into your environment, including the workplace, immediately.
• Distribute Your Weight: Widen your stance. It says you are grounded and staying put. If you have a sense you are not being heard, or the listener is losing focus, shift slightly, angle your body a bit, then continue.
• Monitor Your Posture: Shoulders level and back, chin parallel to the floor, body relaxed.
• Watch Your Feet: Crime experts say feet are the tell if you are anxious, fearful, or lying. Keep the them still, flat on the ground, and never tucked under your body or wrapped around your chair legs.
• Walk with Authority: Strong, steady pace. No running (that’s what junior people should be doing). Show intent and purpose. Act as if you own the place.
• Lean-In: This was Cheryl Sandberg’s advice https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_In for women but it is also true for men. Be an active participant in the conversation, not an observer. Literally lean forward, occupy important space with your physical being.

  Body Language — Your Face

• Face Forward: Take it literally. No bowing as if you were subservient or depressed, nor throwing your chin out in an aggressive manner. Looking sideways seems sneaky or less interested. All read as negative or weak.
• Planful Smile: Smiling, never too much, or too little. Positive leaders use what we call a “growing smile,” a gradual smile. Leaders smile less than others but when they do, they mean it, making the action special and genuine. Researchers tell us when meeting new people, a smiling face will give you a far better chance of being remembered than a neutral one.
• Nodding: Experts believe the more you nod, the more subordinate you appear. Watch how often you do this hoping to show solidarity or agreement. Nod strategically, but not often.
• Eye Contact: Breeds trust if it isn’t staring. Continuous eye contact is not necessarily desirable either, so pull your glance away without seeming distracted. How long should you look? When initially meeting, look at the person long enough to identify their eye color.
• Hands Off Your Face: Avoid touching your face and neck when with people. It seems creepy and sickly, and diminishes your power. The only exception might be stroking a beard. People think that shows thought.

  Body Language — Hands and Arms

• Use Hands for Emphasis: Gesturing with your hands helps emphasize the context of your words. Palms up indicate an openness to others and their ideas. A whole hand gesture, never pointing, enhances your message. Behavioral scientists tell us that steepling, clasping your hands and then touching your index fingers together in a steeple-like shape, is the best way to demonstrate thought, interest, and seek agreement. It is viewed as a power gesture.
• Moving Hands: Idle hands might be the devil’s workshop but when it comes to leadership, fidgeting is distracting and seems out of control. Folding or wrapping your arms is read as defensive, angry, or scared. Holding your phone sends the messages that you are not all present. Use hand movement with intent; show you’re in control of the topic and yourself.
• Shaking Hands: We’re all aware of how bad the “dead fish” shake is for your “how do you do” but many are unaware the overly firm shake, the kind that is painful to many receivers, is equally negative and distracting. Keep in mind this is hand shaking, not arm wrestling. The adage, two or three pumps of the other person’s hand is plenty, is a good advice. When attending an event where drinks and food are being served, choose one or the other, or maybe neither. It’s impossible to hold a glass, balance a plate, and shake someone’s hand without looking like a clumsy juggler. You’re there to network; eat and drink later.

  Body Language — Voice

• Voice Image: Voice shapes people’s perception of you. There is an opportunity to demonstrate power, confidence, intelligence, and empathy. Strong leaders use this to their advantage and perform with intent. People say Steve Jobs “was a natural.” I argue he was a talented, practiced, strategic, communicator who knew his audience and spoke directly to millions, one-on-one.
• Match: Leadership requires consistency and congruency. The same is true with your speaking. How you sound must mirror and match in volume, tone, and tempo what you mean, be it enthusiasm, compassion, concern, reprimand. It is especially important to watch your pitch when you are excited. Some people tend to be shrill.
• Power of the Pause: There are times when stopping, pausing, says more than any words. It draws attention to your point, alerts others to listen, and gives an interesting rhythm to what you’re saying. Teachers use this trick when they realize students are distracted or drifting.
• Strategic Interrupting: Leaders interrupt. Not every time they have an idea or disagree but to make a point, through voice. Disrupting a conversation can have considerable impact and exhibits power and influence, assuming you have something important to add.

Body language skills requires head-to-toe self-awareness. Powerful leaders hone their professional and personal presentation by monitoring their hands, voice, facial expressions, and posture using simple, but important observations and tactics.

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