INTRODUCTIONone of the stockbrokers in a large Chicago firm. She was promised
that eventually she would work her way up in the company. "There
are tremendous opportunities for someone with your skills and
competence," her boss assured her, but a year in the same rut,
with no sign of promotion or salary increase, began to demoralize
her.
"Your problem," her superior told her frankly, "is the way
you interact with your clients. You know your stuff, but ..."
He shrugged. "Somehow you don't project confidence, and your
sales record shows it."
Thoroughly crushed, Lisa turned to her friend Karen for advice.
Karen was hired at the same time, but was far ahead of Lisa on
the corporate ladder. "I've been watching you," Karen said, "and
I believe it's your general attitude. You sit with a customer, slumped
forward, your head down—why, you hardly ever make eye contact.
Are you afraid of the customers?"
Lisa sighed. "I guess I am. I'm going to have to face the fact
that much as I want the job, I'm in the wrong field. When I talk
to the clients I feel uneasy, anxious that I'm giving the wrong
advice. So much is riding on the investments I suggest!"
"That's a crock!" Karen told her. "Your advice is a hundred
percent great. Look, let's do a little body language reconstruction.
Try sitting up straight, leaning forward, making eye contact and,
yes, even smiling!"
Lisa watched Karen at work and began imitating her posture,
her movements. To her surprise, she found that sitting and moving
in an affirmative way increased, to a small extent, her confidence
in herself and the advice she was giving. It became easier to
take a more affirmative posture, and in turn her positive feelings
grew greater. She entered a kind of circular feedback where, as
the confidence she projected through subtext grew, her inward