The Definitive Book of Body Language - Leader Resource

At The Leadership Mission, we will post resources that we feel will be impactful for leaders that will help grow them and/or provide a quality perspective. All of these resources will be beneficial for any leader, as leaders must always be learning. However, each resource would be more impactful for different levels of leaders. So for each resource we will give a "suggested for" rank of leader. Our four ranks that we will use are: Aspiring, New, Experienced and Veteran.

Suggested for: Experienced and Veteran Leaders

Body language is critically important for a leader. I'm sure all of us have been in a meeting or a conversation where the words coming out of the person's mouth don't match what their body is saying. Our bodies say so much more than our words do and if we aren't conscious of our non-verbal communication, it can be disastrous.

This skill is extremely hard to get good at because you are often fighting your natural tendencies. If you are uncomfortable in a conversation or unsure, it is natural to cross your arms or legs or both to "protect" yourself. These are things we do subconsciously and must pay very close attention too in order to stop doing them if/when the situation doesn't call for it.

The Definitive Book of Body Language takes a detailed look at the fascinating world of what our body is trying to say! As the cover suggests, it goes into great detail about how to tell if someone is lying, or if they are confident in what they are saying or not.

I highly recommend this for experienced and veteran leaders who are looking for a new challenge. Understanding the nuances of body language is fascinating but extremely difficult. While it is extremely important to be mindful of what our bodies are saying, interpreting our own and other's body language is definitely a "next level skill." Aspiring or new leaders would be better served focusing on more foundational leadership skills before attempting to tackle body language.

We discuss the concept of body language in detail in our post 4 Easy Body Language Tips to Project Confidence.

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