A leader's hand gestures can either attract followers to him/her or distance followers. a leader using positive hand gestures creates attraction and the emotional connection.
Willis, TX -- (SBWIRE) -- 06/04/2014 -- Leaders today can become more effective by focusing on specific hand gestures that attract followers to them. Researchers today announced their findings that show that a leader’s specific hand gestures create meaning in the minds of followers which create emotional attraction or distance. These findings radically alter the beliefs of historical data in the area of hand gestures. “Previous researchers have noted that specific hand gestures do not create meaning in the minds of viewers, and this research disputes these outdated notions,” says Linda Talley, Ph.D. “We have moved from having major categories of hand gestures to creating sub-categories of hand gestures that create meaning for the observer. This is critical in a business setting when a leader has a minimum amount of time to create the emotional connection among followers in order to build relationships and achieve results. Not only does this add to the literature, it also impacts how leaders can improve their effectiveness by focusing on their nonverbal behavior—specifically hand gestures, particularly in the area of leadership development and training.”
The pilot study indicated a significant variation from three specific positive hand gestures and three specific defensive gestures. “I theorized that positive hand gestures would create more attraction than defensive hand gestures, but what appeared most interesting was the category of no hand gestures. I originally thought no hand gestures would create more attraction than defensive hand gestures, but this did not prove to be true. No hand gestures were as distancing as defensive hand gestures,“ noted Dr. Talley. “Our next project is looking at individual hand gestures and determining what type of meaning they create for leaders.”
About Linda Talley & Associates, Inc.
Linda Talley & Associates, Inc., (http://www.lindatalley.com), based in Willis, TX is a leading researcher, educator, business speaker and executive coach in the area of leadership and nonverbal communication.. Our services focus on leadership development through education, coaching and training.