The symbiotic relationship of body language and attitude by Mark Schnurman

While at a concert with my family this weekend, I walked through the venue with my arms raised as if I had just won a race. I walked with a large smile engulfing my face and an embarrassed 13-year-old daughter imploring me to drop my arms and “be normal.” Neither was a viable option.

You see, physiology drives attitude in the same way that attitude drives physiology. In other words, body language and attitude have a symbiotic relationship with each driving the other at certain times. So as I walked in my exceedingly positive pose I smiled and felt great. I walked with confidence and excitement.

In her Ted Talk, The Power of the Pose, Amy Cuddy passionately speaks about how “power poses” improve performance. Power poses are open poses in which people make themselves larger. Think Wonder Woman pose or a runner crossing the finish line. The pose I struck made me large and was extremely open and confident.

In contrast, there are poses that make people weak. These poses are ones in which the person makes themselves small by bending over and crossing arms and legs. The upshot is expansive, open body language leads to better performance than small closed body language.

Makes sense, right? How about some facts to back up the concept. Power poses increase testosterone and feelings of increased confidence while decrease cortisol, the stress hormone. Cuddy’s research shows that just two minutes of power poses a day can have a huge impact on performance.

At Eastern, I teach our brokers about this and other aspects of the psychology of success. I conduct sales meetings four days a week and almost always raise my arms. I am met with the brokers power posing. Our interns were also trained in this and understand its power.

So how can you benefit from this? Here are a few quick ideas.

If you are going to a meeting, rather than waiting in the lobby bent over playing on your cell phone you should go into the bathroom, look in the mirror, raise your hands and smile.

If you are phone canvassing, stop sitting and stand up.

As you are walking to meeting or the office, put your cell phone away, raise your head and walk confidently.

I train and manage to the psychology of success and emotional intelligence because they are key components of top performing brokers. Incorporating a little power posing is a good place to start.

Mark Schnurman is chief sales officer, principal at Eastern Consolidated, New York, N.Y.