Wear an Open, Easygoing Facial Expression

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Team meeting

You can be taken seriously even if you indiscriminately smile out loud.

This is all about your “game face.” Keep an awake, alert, alive look that invites people to talk to you. Why? Because you need people to talk to you with suggestions, problems, advice, watch-outs, issues, mistakes, concerns, opportunities, fears, and frustrations. If they don’t talk to you because you present yourself as closed, shut off, uninterested, bored, confrontational, and downright scary, you are the one who loses. And when I say lose, I mean that people won’t interpret you correctly. They might mistakenly assume your intent, and you may not get credit for your true thoughts. As mistaken as their impression of you may be, it might cause them to react differently from what you expected or wanted in the communication exchange. And it was your fault for not taking responsibility for making sure that your actions were consistent with the message you intended.

An open face, especially sporting an easy smile, makes you look approachable and approving of others—“You’re okay; I’m okay.” You give people a lift and convey the impression that things are sinking in, not bouncing off of you. An expressionless flat face or a smirk, sneer, or even slightly pursed lips says, “You are not okay; I’m okay.” Besides, if you keep at it, as you get older, you’ll get mean lines around your mouth, and you’ll scare your grandchildren away.

_____

Benton and Wright, co-authors of The Leadership Mind Switch (McGraw-Hill, 2017)

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Debra Benton

D.A. (Debra) Benton has been helping great individuals and organizations get even better for over 20 years. Just as exceptional athletes rely on excellent coaching to hone their skills, Debra's clients rely on her advice to advance their careers. She focuses on what is truly important to convert what you and your organization want to be from a vision into a reality. TopCEOCoaches.com ranks her in the World's Top 10 CEO Coaches noting she is the top female. And as conference keynote speaker she is routinely rated in the top 2%. Her client list reads like a “Who's Who” of executives in companies ranging from Microsoft, McDonald's, Kraft, American Express, Merrill Lynch, United Airlines, and PricewaterhouseCoopers to the Washington Beltway and U.S.Border Patrol. *She is the author of ten award-winning and best-selling business books including The Virtual Executive and CEO Material. She has written for the Harvard Business Review, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Businessweek, and Fast Company. She has been featured in USA Today, Fortune, The New York Times, and Time; she has appeared on Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, and CBS with Diane Sawyer. To learn more Debra advising leaders, coaching, facilitating a workshop, or speaking: www.debrabenton.com

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