I Can See What You’re Thinking

What we say is very essential, but other nonverbal cues are equally vital. Nonverbal communication is an important part of our daily managerial interactions, and one set of statistics suggests 55 percent of the message comes from appearance, facial expression, and posture (Hynes, 181). In a business environment it is essential present confidence. Your professional abilities can be undermined because of the way you look or behave, even the smallest things can sabotage your image (Myers, 2011). Managers and employees need to present a professional image in the way they dress, mannerisms and how they speak. It is equally important for managers to understand nonverbal signals to understand what employees are trying to communicate.

I am a shy person, I’ve been that way all of my life; I’m most comfortable in the behind the scenes, rather than the forefront. I have worked diligently to be more assertive, and to present myself as self-assured. Nevertheless every performance review I receive the feedback that I need to put myself out there more, or be more confident in my abilities. I work on it and make progress every year, but I’ll never be outgoing. I can readily recall the first time I realized that my nonverbal communication was as apparent as my verbal. It was years ago, and I was in a meeting with one of the directors of the department reviewing an agreement with a vendor. Our teams had been negotiating a contract and some of the discussions had become quite heated between our companies. I was always on the sidelines running the numbers so my interaction with the vendor team was limited. I found an error on some of the pricing proposals and had brought it to my boss’s attention. He suggested we get on a conference c...

... middle of paper ...

...ce and self-awareness I’ve become more aware that physical actions help deliver the message as well. While I am sure it wasn’t perfectly executed when I had to deliver unpleasant news to an employee my actions fit my words. I made sure I presented confidence in my new role, and deliver a clear message. Although Anna wasn’t happy with my news, she realized it was the final decision. My body language reinforced my words.

Works Cited

Hynes, G.E. (2011). Managerial Communications Strategies and Applications (5th ed.).

New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Myers, J. (Jan 14, 2011). It's not what you say, it's how you move. Globe & Mail

(Toronto, Canada), p.B13. Retrieved February 19, 2011, from Custom Newspapers via Gale:

http://find.galegroup.com.resources.njstatelib.org/gtx/start.do?prodId=SPN.SP02&userGroupName=njslnews_njsl