Nonverbal Elements of Leadership Behaviour**

Zusammenfassung

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This paper investigates the importance of nonverbal behaviour in the context of leadership. Research on the decoding of social interactions has shown that the quality or type of relationship as well as relationally relevant emotional states are transmitted nonverbally. With this in mind, we review the existing literature on nonverbal leadership behaviour, such as research on Pygmalion leadership or political leadership. The nonverbal behaviours examined in these research areas show remarkable consistency and we therefore conclude that it is possible to deduce about effective nonverbal leadership behaviours. Still, many points remain open for further research and discussion. For example, no information is available concerning nonverbal behaviour in negative feedback processes. The conclusion outlines fruitful research directions in the area of nonverbal behaviour in leadership.

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Auszug

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Nonverbal Elements of Leadership Behaviour**

Introduction

Why is nonverbal behaviour of interest in leadership research?

It is a well-established fact in leadership research that interaction is one of the main activities of leaders (e.g., Yukl 2002). Much of the existing research has focused on the "results" of social interactions, such as subordinates' satisfaction with leaders, their commitment to the goals of the organization, their task-fulfilment, the quality of leader-follower relationships, etc. Seldom, however, have the means used in these interactions been examined. In this article, we will focus precisely on these means, specifically, on nonverbal leadership behaviour.

As already Argyle (1967) has pointed out, nonverbal cues are an important element in social interaction. The common expression "body-language" makes evident that there are more means of communication available than simply the spoken language. Important elements of nonverbal communication are gestures, body movements, postures, facial expressions, gaze (and even odour, Ellgring 1997; Sczesny/Stahlberg 2002). However, nonverbal communication can also include auditory cues such as prosody, volume, tempo, pitch, intruding sounds, tone, pacing, pauses, etc. (Smith 1997).

In social psychology, the role of facial expression in impression formation is long known (Mchrabian/Wiener 1967; sec also the research by Ekman/O'Sullivan 1991). To cite one classic example, Mehrabian and Wiener (1967) showed that the overall impression made by a person was shaped by the following components: contents of a message, tone of voice, and facial expression. When each of these were assessed with respect to their individual importance, the following formula resulted: overall impression = 0.07 (contents) + 0.38 (voice tone) + 0.55 (facial expression), important to note here is the dominating significance of facial impression in this formula, as well as voice tone, showing that nonverbal cues are of overarching importance. Mehrabian and Wiener made clear that, in cases of inconsistency between verbal and nonve...

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