One of the instructors for MPA 809: Management in the Public Sector is retired Brigadier-General William Richard. I enjoyed his discussion of leadership today. During that discussion, he noted that one challenge faced by leaders is to know how to control their emotions (including body language). Do you know of any books or articles on body language that might help me better understand the language?
Planned books:
- Digital Photography Masterclass by Tom Ang
- The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder
Current books:
-
Big Red Machine: How the Liberal Party Dominates Canadian Politics by Stephen Clarkson
Recent books:
- The Amber Spyglass: His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
- Kicking Ass In Canadian Politics by Warren Kinsella
- The Pilgrimage of Stephen Harper by Lloyd Mackey
- Fights Of Our Lives by John Duffy
- Who Killed The Canadian Military by J L Granatstein
-
About
- Change this text in the admin section of WordPress
Controlling and observing body language is one of the things they really hammer into you a pre-departure sessions for foreign work assignments.
Communication in many parts of the world is much less direct than it is in N.A., where what you say is for the most part what you mean. Non-verbal cues are much more important here (Guyana), where “yes” in the office does not always mean “yes I’ll do that” as we have come to understand it in Canada. I have a whole raft of documents about this, but unfortunately they’re only hard copies.
In any case, controlling emotions is definitely one of the most important aspects of leadership. I am personally terrible at it and would probably benefit from a few lectures myself.