Amy Klobuchar Body Language. Body Language of a Leader or a Bully,

Stories about Amy Klobuchar's mistreatment of her staff have dominated headlines since the Minnesota senator announced her run for president earlier this month.

Ex-staffers say Klobuchar emails at all hours of the night berating them for minor mistakes in all caps, humiliates them verbally and has even thrown objects, once accidentally hitting an aide with a flying binder, as BuzzFeed News reported. In multiple news reports, they describe an atmosphere of constant anxiety and fear that contrasts with the senator's outward "Minnesota nice" brand.

But other staffers have praised her for the high standards and expectations she has for her office, and for being a great mentor who's always there for them through major life events. And even though this behavior is clearly unacceptable for any boss, some have argued that there are gendered overtones in how her management style is discussed and the fact that it's overshadowing her presidential run. Consider that Klobuchar is high on the list of "worst bosses" in Congress because of her high staff turnover — but also that, according to Vox, in 2016 about a third of female senators were considered worse bosses than about 96% of male senators. Sounds like there might be another factor involved.  When asked about her behavior, Klobuchar reverts to a line about being as tough on America as she is on her staff. When George Stephanopoulos posed the question to her on ABC News, she replied, "I am tough. I push people, that is true, but my point is that I have high expectations for myself, I have high expectations for the people that work for me, and I have high expectations for this country." Then, when he asked whether she's ready to handle the scrutiny that comes with running for president, she made a point to say that she has "grit" and has overcome adversity, including her dad struggling with alcoholism and her daughter being sick when she was born.

Will this work with voters? Patti Wood, body language expert and author of Snap: Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language, and Charisma, said she thinks voters will absolutely care about Klobuchar's treatment of staff, and that they will, unfortunately, care more because she's a woman. Justifying her behavior by saying she has high expectations for the country was not quite convincing, said Wood. "She was tense, her voice got tight, she was very uncomfortable and trying to overcome that discomfort."

She added: "It worked. It was memorable, and I know people were quoting it afterward. These were well-crafted talking points."

Wood said she noticed that Klobuchar "grimaced" as she said, "I have high expectations for this country."

"I think it's because the line didn't work for her somehow. There was something she was conflicted about and she didn't sell that line. She didn't sound or look like she believed it," she said.

In a CNN town hall, Klobuchar struck a similar note, talking up her long career of managing people. "Am I a tough boss sometimes? Yes. Have I pushed people too hard? Yes. But I have kept expectations for myself that are very high. I've asked my staff to meet those same expectations. The big point for me is that I want the country to meet high expectations," she said.

Here, Wood said she sounded a little more convincing, but she still had her doubts. "The way it came out, it sounded like an excuse for her bullying rather than what it should have done, which is leave us with the impression that she's going to be tough on America because it's a great country. I found it interesting that she's being accused of bullying and she seems nervous and tense, that doesn't bode well."

When it comes to Klobuchar's "baseline," however — when she's talking about issues that aren't as touchy as her treatment of staff, such as student debt — Wood said she seems more comfortable, which is telling.

Wood noted that she thought it was interesting when Klobuchar showed some vulnerability. "When she started talking about her experience with her alcoholic dad, that tactic was so fascinating to me because it was appealing to her vulnerability and the pain she's been through in her life that has made her tough," she said. "It worked effectively, but a guy could probably not have pulled that off."

https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2019/02/225481/amy-klobuchar-body-language?fbclid=IwAR1wTwnXvKSBhLTQbL4o4Onu8s4BN-nWsFI2oYXudeEj2wh8VFw7iCbxieAPatti Wood, MA - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com.
     

Methods of dealing with Conflict learned from the echidna

Would keeping cool under stress make you live longer? Well, if you were to model the behavior of the long-beaked echidna, one of the oldest, most passive and silliest-looking mammals on the planet, you might try a little “You live your life and I live mine” philosophy to increase your longevity.
According to echidna researcher Dr. Peggy Rismiller of the University of Adleaide in a New York Times article on the ehidna www://www.nyt.com,echidnas are not only “the oldest surviving mammalian group, but individual monotremes can live 50 years or longer.”
So what specific conflict tools do they use? Well according to Take, 1952, when disturbed an echidna buries itself rapidly in the ground. Now that reminds me of men I have dated. Forget the guys going into the cave a la Grey's Mars vs. Venus to fight stress, just bury yourself in the ground when you're upset. In my workshops, I do teach that there are times to avoid conflict, but I wouldn’t recommend staying underground too long. Someone might forget you were mad and walk right over you.
Maybe we should learn to be level headed like the echidna. Though if 50 percent of our brain was the language rich, reasoning, rational thinking neocortex like the Echidna's instead of the measly 30 percent we have, it might be easier not to rant and rave under stress. Again being reasonable is always great, but I recommend making conflict management choices based on the situation rather than shouting out to the galaxy that we all need is to be more logical-- a sort of Star Trek's Spock-- under stress. Of course, there may be another reason the pacifistic echidna can deal well with conflict and live a long life. They are covered with spines. When I meet anyone spinney I know I avoid conflict with them. So let’s add one more conflict management choice to the mix. Sometimes it’s good to be sharp and aggressive. So what have we learned? Be like a long-beaked echidna and have more than one way of dealing with conflict. You can choose to:
1. Let it go and don't stress about it
2. Leave it or avoid it
3. Be logical and reasonable
4. Be aggressive
5. Be weird looking
For specific tools to deal effectively with conflict you may wish to check out my books, “The Conflict Cure” and “Sword Shields Daggers and Handshakes” on the products page of my website www.pattiwood.net or consider having me come in to speak to your group or talking to me about one-on-one coaching.