There’s a recurring moment that I’ll never forget from my corporate career. Every Monday morning, our team would get together in the boardroom before our VP would get there, ready for our team meeting. And we would be laughing about the weekend and talking about the week coming up – I mean, everybody was talking. We were sharing ideas, even starting to do some problem-solving before the meeting officially began; it was like this energy was in the room.
And then, our VP would walk in and everything changed.
I mean, that energy completely went away. Not only did people stop talking, but they sat differently in their chairs. The body language completely shifted, and what’s so crazy to me is the fact that our VP never even noticed. He just walked in, launched into the meeting, and just carried on as if nothing had even changed. And this is important, because leaders and organizations often think that leadership and executive presence is just about confidence, communication skills, this ability to command the room.
But, one of the elements that we overlook is the ability to read the room. People are constantly giving us information – and not from their words, but through everything else. Their energy, their engagement, whether or not they’re participating, and what that body language is. And when leaders don’t pay attention, when they miss it, the cost is bigger, even more than you realize. Because now people aren’t sharing their ideas, they’re not voicing their concerns or asking questions.
And so leaders make their decisions based upon what people are willing to say, not what they’re actually thinking. And on the flip side, I sat through meetings with leaders who could read the room, and they were totally different. They felt safe, so people did challenge ideas, they brought in new questions and engaged in that conversation – and the business benefited from that.
Influence isn’t just about what happens after you start speaking. It’s about what happens the moment you enter the room.
If you are not paying attention to the room, you better know that that room is paying attention to you. So how are you showing up the moment you walk in? What are you paying attention to, in order to create the influence that you, your team and your organization need?