BODY LANGUAGE - an Interpersonal Skill

"You can tell a lot about the person by his or her body language" - this line is said by Harvey Wolter and, it is very much true. Communication doesn’t only happen verbally. As you speak or listen, you also express feelings and reactions with your body language, including your facial expression, gestures, and stance. Body language is nothing but the unspoken element of communication that we use to reveal our true feelings and emotions. Our gestures, facial expressions and posture, for instance.

When we are able to "read" these signs, we can use it to our advantage. For example, it can help us to understand the complete message of what someone is trying to say to us, and to enhance our awareness of people's reactions to what we say and do.

According to Dr. Emily Cook, a marriage and family therapist in Bethesda, MD, body language plays an essential role in how we share information with others.

“There’s evidence to suggest our brains prioritize nonverbal communication over verbal communication,” she says. “So, when our brain gets a mixed message — say it hears, ‘I love you’ but sees a mean face or hears an insincere tone — it may prefer the nonverbal cues to the verbal ones,” she adds.

Body language is so crucial that it even helps authorities at the time of interrogation. In the video next to this paragraph, former FBI agent and body language expert Joe Navarro breaks down the various ways we communicate non-verbally. What does it mean when we fold our arms? Why do we interlace our fingers? Can a poker player actually hide their body language?

It’s important to keep in mind that body language isn’t universal. Several things can impact how someone both uses and interprets body language.

Some more videos related to body language is given below.

Self-reflection Exercise:

360 degree feedback on your interpersonal skills (from 5 people) and prepare an action plan as per feedback received:

(a) Friends / Family

For me,it would be my mother.

Motherhood is not something one thinks about as being a useful role to gain some insights into how to lead others given that the dynamics between a mother and her child are vastly different from that between an employer and their employees. And yet, if we look at this from the perspective of the life lessons we learned as children from our moms, we can see some useful points that can help us better understand how to approach the role of leadership in our lives.

For example,

On any given day,my mother can be found juggling various household chores, hunting down craft supplies for a project I only remembered today was needed tomorrow, and all the while balancing this against managing the demands of building her careers. And yet, despite all these divergent demands for her attention,my mother never lose sight of the vision that she has for her children – of providing a healthy and safe environment where we can grow and thrive.

Likewise, in the business world, there are many demands made for the attention of leaders. As my mother has shown me, though, this shouldn’t take our focus away from what’s important or needed for the organization to grow and prosper.

(b) Business

I think Jeff Bezos would be an appropriate choice for this.

He has the main and most important leadership qualities like,

Perseverance and Resilience.
Experimenting
Giving customers an option.
Knowing his passion and waiting for the right time.
Focusing on process, not failure.
Building a culture that's right for his company.

Elon Musk is a visionary, and truly believes in every business venture he puts his mind too. Because he has such a strong vision, he isn’t afraid to face obstacles others might find impossible to overcome.

This is one of the things Musk is known for – tackling obstacles head on. The projects he’s been involved in tackle almost every major industry and global problem, from automotive, to telecommunications, to energy.

And if there is a problem within the organisation, you can be sure Musk will be right there, taking a hands-on approach to helping find a solution.

Elon Musk's leadership style is about constantly learning, breaking through barriers, and developing new ways to solve problems. He also has the emotional intelligence to bring the best out of his team, and we can attribute all this to his vast success.

(d) Movies.

Amitabh Bachchan is an inevitable part of Bollywood. His sly acting skills are not the only thing that makes him a legend, his persona, attitude and humility are what makes him a legendary actor and a great human being. Dedication, hard work and determination, this all words becomes too small in front of this man. His presence in Bollywood adds value to the name. There is so much to learn from the man whose knowledge is way beyond our thinking.there are so many Leadership Qualities which we can learn from the great Amitabh Bachchan. some of the qualities are

handling rejection
hard work and determination
humility

He has also proved that age is just a number and achieving success is possible in any point of a person's life. So for me he really is a true leader in his field.

(f) Sports

As a player, Dhoni never let his background and upbringing interfere with his perseverance and want to succeed. As a captain and a leader, his greatest attributes include not holding back and being true to himself.

His best leadership qualities are:

staying calm
handling success
dealing with failure
being the front man
being a team player