Leading With Nonverbals

By Kevin Miller

Once you get your dream job of a supervisory position, it is very important to know how to use your nonverbal communication so that your subordinates have a better perception of you. An article by Kristin Byron goes into an overview of how nonverbal communication is perceived by both male and female managers. It was found through the study that female managers were more able to accurately detect emotions through nonverbal attributes. Also, the managers who were more able to detect them received higher satisfaction ratings from their subordinates and also got higher performance ratings from the output of the workers.

“Results suggested that male managers who were more accurate at emotion perception received higher satisfaction ratings if they used the information to be more persuasive, whereas more emotionally perceptive female managers received higher satisfaction ratings when they demonstrated more supportiveness.” (Byron, 2007, p. 713)

In my opinion, this article shows results that are supported by facts and test that are truthful. The facts that show that females are more able to pick up on nonverbal cues makes sense because females tend to pay more attention to details and care more for emotions than males. It also describes how male and female managers can break through to their subordinates to help improve employee moral. It is fascinating how the different sexes have to use two different techniques to be more effective in communicating with their subordinates.

Byron, K. (2007). Male and female managers' ability to 'read' emotions: Relationships with supervisor's performance ratings and subordinates' satisfaction ratings. Journal of Occupational & Organizational Psychology, 80(4), 713-733.