Body Language of Leaders

We go about living our lives without much thought on how our body language communicates with others around us.  Many of us takes our physical communication as far as the clothes and accessories we put on in the morning.  We try to have the best looking clothes that expresses our mood, our style and our character.  We put on accessories to say even more about us.  Men may wear baseball caps to show that they’re into sports and that they have an active lifestyle.  Women may have matching earing and necklaces to show that they’re on top of the latest trends.  We wear unique clothes and accessories to express ourselves, but we neglect the fact that besides our clothing, when others look at us, our body language speaks just as loud as the clothes we have on.

The clothes we wear is the first communication we put out for others to see and understand us.  Businessman will likely have on a nice suite.  You’re typically conducting serious business during the day with important people when you have a nice suite on.  At least that’s what a business suite tends to automatically convey.  Women who also wears nice suites, or have a nice skirt with a nice blouse, combined with high heels are generally working in an office.  These are simple generalizations that may not be 100% accurate, but it is what’s visually expressed and assumed.

As we have the perfect outfit on that expresses who we are, we confidently go out into public and into work.  Yet, many of us often don’t realize that our body language 55% of our communication is through our body postures and gestures.  That’s right, over half of the communication we broadcast out are not with the words that we say or how we say those words.  The visual cues that others take from our body language is says more than our words, yet most of us don’t recognize it and do not communicate with our bodies the way we want.  We don’t allow our bodies to express what we want to convey, but rather allow our bodies to send out the wrong and unintended message.

As leaders, sending out wrong or unintended messages to your team could be detrimental to your leadership capabilities.  For example, when in a meeting, a leader may have had a long difficult day and the meeting is just one final task before the day is over.  Slouching down in the chair due to fatigue is understandable.  However, it may be not understandable from the team’s perspective.  The laid back or slouching in the chair may imply that the leader is not interested or engaged with the conversation taking place.  Team members are not aware of the long arduous and labor intensive day the leader may have gone through.  They are not privy to that knowledge so may not be able to empathize.  What they see is a leader who’d rather prefer to be elsewhere, based on the body language conveyed.

Here are some other common body language mistakes that are made unknowingly.  Understanding what we may unknowingly communicating will allow us to make changes to express the proper message we want conveyed.

• Body posture is something we’d briefly touched upon. It’s slouching or drooping of the body which express lack of interests and lack of engagement.  This happens both when sitting and standing.  Be aware of how your shoulders and backs are positioned.  Stand up straight and make an attempt to project energy, even when you don’t have any.  It goes a long way in getting your team to be engaged with you and expressing your engagement with your team.
• Facial expressions are something we’re all aware of and we do a fairly good job of controlling this part of our body language. We smile at the right time to show happiness and frown at the right time to let others know of our disapproval.  Yet there are other things on our face that we don’t do a good job of acknowledging and controlling.  Our eyes actually speaks volume whether we know it or not.  During a conversation, if eye contact isn’t made and maintained, it truly sends a bad message.  It shows that our minds and attention are not present in the moment and not in tuned with the conversation.  It shows disrespect for the opposite party and leads to missing important information.
• Head movements too are an important part of communication. Whether your head is tilted back, or to the side can show whether you’re interested in something or if you entirely disapprove of it.  In addition, when engaged in a conversation, nodding heads shows agreement and understanding.  Combined with eye movement, or lack thereof, can show others that you’ve drifted off and, though may be making eye contact, your mind is not in conversation, let alone in the room.  Be aware of your eye contact and head movements.  Nod regularly when you agree or want to show your understanding.  Control your eyebrows appropriately to convey understanding, questioning or disapproval.  They are all key part of communication.
• Arm placement and movement can say a lot about how comfortable you are. Keeping your arms folded in front of you shows that you’re trying to set a barrier between you and the opposite party.  It shows that you have something you want to keep from the other person and it makes it harder for empathy and connections to be made.  Unfold your arms and embrace letting other’s get to know you.  Regularly moving your arms to help with your communication also will give you a boost in energy to continue.
• Leg positioning while sitting is likely the last thing we think may be projecting any messages. But it actually does when done incorrectly.  If you constantly shift your legs in your chair, it shows fidgeting and nervousness.  It conveys that you’re uncomfortable in the situation, with the environment, the conversation or with audience involved.  Sit comfortably and firmly.  You need not stay static the entire time, but do limit your leg movements to show that you’re in control of yourself.

Leaders spends so much time and effort planning for the future of their teams.  The amount of empathy and care given to leading the team is vast and so much work goes into caring for the people that’s being led.  So much thought is given in how to motivate and encourage performance and growth.  So much desire goes into building great trust and relationship with the team.  Leaders often agonize over what to say and the right message to present to the team.  Communication is so important, yet the body language is mostly not thought of nor carefully planned for.  Body language is not utilized correctly and it sometimes negate the other efforts that’s been put in.

To fully communicate properly, we must all learn how our body works in communication and how we can utilize it to convey the message we want.  Don’t sell yourself short by not controlling how your body is speaking and how it can help you be better leaders.  Pay attention to your legs, arms, head and facial movements and recognize that others are paying attention to them as well.

Photo by: LinkedIn Sales Navigator