The cardiovascular benefits of regular walking are well-researched. Walking is also an excellent leadership tool.

“Let’s Take a Walk”

When leaders use their office for difficult conversations, the symbolism of power differential exists whether they sit behind a desk or across a coffee table. A conference room is neutral, but a team member may be reading face cues that you the leader does not wish to convey. The same issue applies to online conversations.

You are going to have a difficult conversation. Consider having it while walking shoulder to shoulder in a wooded area, a quiet street, or around your building.

Walking shoulder to shoulder solves both the power-symbol issue and the facial-signals problem. When clients bring to us complex, emotionally laden issues, we routinely take shoulder-to-shoulder walks. We find the lack of facial signals from us helps relax them.

Dacher Keltner, professor of psychology at the University of California at Berkeley, cites a study involving strangers meeting at an enclosed stadium in New Zealand. For five minutes, one group walked around the stadium collectively, while the control group walked around the same stadium as individuals. The........

© Psychology Today