Your body posture tells more about you than you think. This is because, your body posture not only influences others, but, yourself. Posture is something so important, but so often neglected.
Your Posture Influences Others
Imagine the following scene: the manager is on the shop floor, walking with his head down, stopping to talk to someone, leaning his body on a column, scratching his head; then slipping his hand from his forehead to the back of his neck. Okay, now imagine this: the manager is on the shop floor and walks with his head up (not arrogantlly, but naturally), looks sideways, stops to talk to someone, puts both hands on the waist, looking on the person’s face. What do you think of these two scenes? It is blatant that the first manager seems preoccupied, pessimistic, defeated; while the second one shows positivism and energy.
We know that our posture can influence the thinking of others, but unfortunately, most of the time, we do not discipline ourselves properly. Leadership, by their natural influence on others, must educate their posture, because, in any place inside the company, not everyone will be able to hear what hi speaks, but anyone is able to look at his body, transforming her posture into deductions and conclusions. So make sure that your posture transmits energy and positivism.
Your Posture Influences Yourself
A study by social psychologist and Harvard professor Amy J.C. Cuddy, and colleagues Dana R. Carney, and Andy J. Yap of Columbia University, published in 2010 in the journal Psychological Science, analyzed the effect and influence of posture about the person himself. According to this study, humans and other animals express power through open and expansive postures, and, on the contrary, express weakness through contracted and closed postures. The question to be confirmed was whether the adoption of one kind or another of posture could actually impact objectively on the person himself. In order to do so, two groups assumed distinct postures for one minute while one adopted high power postures (sitting in a chair with his hands behind his head and feet on the table, standing with his hands on a table and his body slightly inclined forward), the other group adopted low-power postures (sitting with their hands folded between their legs, standing with their arms folded across their body and legs crossed).
It was observed that the group that adopted high power postures had positive alterations in the neuro-endocrine system and behavior, since they experienced an increase in testosterone (vigor hormone) and reduction of cortisol (stress hormone), besides , there was an increase in feelings of power and risk tolerance. Low-power postures, on the other hand, led the group to a reduction in testosterone and increased cortisol. In short, adopting high-power postures caused advantageous, adaptive psychological, physiological, and behavioral changes.
Therefore, not only does the mind influence the body, but the body also influences the mind! Adopt positive and self-confidende postures, because, in this way, you will not only influence positively others, as well as yourself!