Leadership

WOW! What an inspiration Amy Cuddy’s talk is to me!  I remember the advice I received years ago from a friend of mine in high-power sales. When I asked how she had the confidence to talk to groups of executives, and how she had the confidence to “work” the crowd, she told me how she learned to enter the room with a power walk – to fill up the room with energy, and above all, fake it to you make it!…. all the things Amy Cuddy talks about. It’s so easy to cower when we feel insecure or intimidated… take 20 minutes to gird yourself up and improve your body language! I think it will make us better teachers…  Body language affects how others see us, but it may also change how we see ourselves. Social psychologist Amy Cuddy shows how “power posing” — standing in a posture of confidence, even when we don’t feel confident — can affect testosterone and cortisol levels in the brain, and might even have an impact on our chances for success. Amy Cuddy’s research on body language reveals that we can change other people’s perceptions — and even our own body chemistry — simply by changing body positions. Amy Cuddy is now a professor and researcher at Harvard Business School. You can read her full bio here.