Here’s Why Slouching Is Bad for Your Career

Don’t slouch. Sit up straight!

Your friends, your high school teacher, and your mom has said it over and over again. But who cares if you slump in your comfortable office chair, right? You’re tired, and you have to worry about typing reports and preparing for meetings. With the load of work you have in your professional life, who cares about posture?
 

Apparently, your bosses, clients, and colleagues might. Turns out, how you sit and stand communicates something to other people. A thought-provoking TED talk by Amy Cuddy stresses the importance of body language in the business world, saying that it reflects power. Wits aren’t enough. Posture matters in becoming a leader.

How Leaders Sit and Stand

People who feel powerful usually take an open stance. They sit straight with their chest out, or lean forward to the person they’re talking to occupy a larger space. Their legs are also open, facing outside. People who feel powerless, on the other hand, close themselves up. They slump their shoulders, close their arms, and hug themselves in the presence of someone who they feel is superior to them. That’s why most employees are humble in the presence of their bosses, and why kids in the playground suddenly droop when bullies are in front of them.

This is a trend we see not only in human beings, Cuddy says, but also in animals. Turkeys bury their heads when they feel threated, and when apes stand boasting their chests and pounding it with their fists, they are projecting power. Even Tarzan imitates this. And he does that every time he races through the trees and feel empowered.

It’s not fictional. If you look at how Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg present their ideas, they pace the stage and open their arms. Zuckerberg isn’t a particularly tall guy but standing straight allows him to demand attention from the audience. They do this to assert their authority over other people. They have brilliant ideas, there’s no doubt about it, but they also have charisma, which is crucial for leadership.

How to Use Good Posture in Your Career

If you want to one day sit in executive office chairs like CEOs, you have to start sitting up straight. Who doesn’t want a promotion? Nobody wants to stay in a cubicle forever. But higher positions require leadership. And it’s not enough that you’re excellent at what you do or that you’ve been in the industry for a while. You must also look like someone people respect.

If you don’t particularly feel like a leader right now, Cuddy says changing your posture will help you with that. “Fake it ‘til you become it” is a motto all of us can learn a lot from. Having good posture helps you change the way you feel about yourself. It affects your disposition. It’s not an automatic process but it’s one that will reap good rewards if you want to move up the ladder.

More than your self-image, good posture will help you look like someone who could be a boss because it projects confidence. This is most important in presenting reports in a meeting or talking to other colleagues, and especially talking to your boss who makes the call on who goes up or who gets fired. Body language is a subtle language but it’s one of the first things that people subconsciously notices. It affects how credible you look like.

How to Develop Good Posture Habits

It’s not easy to form habits but there are a couple of things you can do. Setting a permanent reminder on your desk to sit straight is one. Frequent stretching also helps. Practicing power poses and presentations at home will prepare you for the actual thing. If you’re a little low on self-discipline, you can ask colleagues to poke you whenever you slouch, or you can buy chairs for posture support. Getting that promotion may just be one sitting away—only if you sit smart.