What Every BODY Is Saying : An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Speed Reading People

KNOWLEDGE WITHIN REACH 121

tative training, it doesn’t resonate well in the private sector. Military per-
sonnel leaving the service to enter the business world would be well
advised to soften up that image so they don’t come across so authorita-
tively (see figure 40). Minimizing arms akimbo can often ameliorate that
military bearing that civilians often find disconcerting (see box 31).
For women, arms, akimbo may have particular utility. I have taught
women executives that it is a powerful nonverbal display that they can em-
ploy when confronting males in the boardroom. It is an effective way for
anyone, especially a woman, to demonstrate that she is standing her ground,
confident, and unwilling to be bullied. Too often young women enter the

Arms akimbo is a powerful territorial

display that can be used to establish

dominance or to communicate that there

are “issues.”

Fig. 40