I read this article in Businessweek. I didn’t agree with all of it, but there is some good information in it.
Actions Do Speak Louder Than Words
“During a recent business conference, I had the opportunity to strike up a conversation with Commander Matt Eversmann, who teaches leadership at Johns Hopkins University. He led troops into battle in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1993. The battle was turned into a book and movie, both called Black Hawk Down. One thing that struck me immediately was that Eversmann’s body language was impeccable.
“What role does body language play in the development of a leader?” I asked him.
“Great leaders have an air of confidence,” he replied. “Subordinates need to look up to somebody who is still standing strong, like an oak, regardless of events around them. You need to convey a feeling that you will always be in control despite the circumstances, even if you don’t have an immediate solution…someone who doesn’t lose focus, doesn’t cower, doesn’t waffle. The air of confidence must come out.”
THE IT FACTOR. Do you have that air of confidence on the corporate battlefield? Great communicators do. A leader who fails to instill confidence among his subordinates — during hundreds of everyday actions — will lose the loyalty of his “troops” when it really counts.”
I think that much of this is subjective, but it is always worth thinking about things like this. You can always improve.
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