Language That Leads: Communications Strategies That Inspire and Engage

In this derivative program, Wezowski (Without Saying a Word), a cofounder of the Center for Body Language, offers tips for improving one’s management skills based on the core qualities of leadership as defined by executive coach Marshall Goldsmith, which include adaptability, empathy, integrity, and humility. Goldsmith, who contributes a foreword and was the subject of a documentary directed by Wezowski, is cited frequently throughout, as when Wezowski relates his advice on discipline, which urges readers to adopt the tenacity of Broadway performers who must put on a show no matter what’s happening in their personal lives. Wezowski’s own BLINK technique (Body Language Interpretations Nominology Know-How) promises to help readers interpret colleagues’ “true feelings... by observing body language,” but few will be surprised to learn that “smiling or nodding” indicate that an interlocutor favors an idea, and that “clenched fists” suggest the opposite. There are a few useful if commonsensical recommendations, such as calling on people with an upturned hand instead of pointing and mirroring the body language of others to build rapport, but the reliance on Goldsmith’s ideas makes one wonder if it would be more efficient to read his books instead. Low on new ideas, this comes up short. (July)