# 73: Reading Body Language
Story behind the Passage
Today, I recorded my first zebra podcast with an entrepreneurial colleague of mine. He is an expert in communication and that is, of course, what made me think of Samy Molcho today. I have no idea at what age I learned about him. As far as I remember, it was in my early teenage years. Molcho is, I guess, the most famous pantomime and body language expert of his time. I must have learned about him on television back when I was in school and then I read at least two or three books by him. You know, this was before YouTube. But you do find stuff about and with him online nowadays.
Why did I get into body language when I was fairly young? After all, most people buy books like these for their careers. They hope to give better presentations or negotiate better deals. All of this and much more, you find in the book, of course. But I think, I read it for two reasons back then. One was that I always wanted to learn how to do things differently and ultimately better. That is nothing special about communication — I still do that with almost anything that somehow catches my interest. The second reason, however, clearly is related to the Molcho’s topic. I have always been fascinated with communication in a comprehensive way.
Maybe some driver that shaped my interest is found in intercultural communication. Whenever visiting countries in which you have no idea about the meaning of the words because you do not speak the language, you completely rely on body language — both with respect to reading other people and making yourself explicit via basic gestures. In both cases, of course, you tend to apply your subjective means of interpretation to this other culture. In some cases, this might indeed foster understanding. In other cases, you might end up completely confused or erroneously believing that you understood.
It is exactly this never-ending story of trying to create more understanding via the use of different signs — verbal and non-verbal — which, I assume, fascinates all people who are deeper into communication; be it professionally or otherwise. The passage that I discovered straight away when opening the book today is about “Hands.” Molcho goes through all body parts in detail and in every chapter, you find streams of black and white pictures which illustrate what he is describing in words. I wonder if today’s young founder generation will ever pick up one of these books. Given the fact that this book looks so “old-fashioned,” they might not do so. I still hope, they do.
My Learnings
“>>Handeln<< — in der Wort- und Sprachbildung schon hat diese Wechselbeziehung zwischen Kopf und Hand fundamentalen Charakter: Begreifen und Ergriffensein, fassen und halten, Inhalt und Verfassung.“ / “>>Taking action<< — in word and language formation, this correlation between head and hand is of fundamental character: touching and being touched, grasping and holding, content and constitution.” When I wrote my last book about management education in the humanities, I started out by tracing the roots of the word “management.” As you might guess already, the dictionary takes one back to the hand. In French, the etymology is still very obvious in the word “la main.” In German, we still have the expression “aus dem lameng,” meaning that you do something “off the cuff.”
No, I am not going to bother you any further with word origins. I guess, the point has become clear by now that managing is related to taking things into your own hand. And the hand, as Molcho explains in this sentence, is a foundational body part that is tied to many terms that we use in daily language without ever thinking about them anymore. The reason why I am thinking about the word origin is because this is my way of approaching concepts. Whenever I start getting into a new topic, even something seemingly self-evident such as entrepreneurship or leadership, I do research on the term itself. I am convinced that the (hi)stories that words tell us already give us many clues as to how to approach and interpret them.
Molcho does something similar in his art, I think. And to me, he really is an artist, even though he took on many different roles in his life. All of these roles are linked to his expertise in communication. When I say “expertise,” I really mean it. You know, there are so many self-declared experts in the world now who do not even have a tiny fraction of the knowledge and experience that Molcho has. This is not because he is old. It is because he really got into communication — it is the air that he breathes and the light he sees. You feel this when watching him; his body is the message.
When I talk about expertise in this way, I do it in an appreciative way. Still, I also think that Germany has kind of been digging its own pit by being so crazy about experts. A nation that is so risk-averse almost forces dumb-heads to sell their limited knowledge under the label “expert on xyz” in order to buy the trust of those who hardly ever trust anyone. I do not think that this is healthy for a culture, particularly not when it comes to entrepreneurship. This makes it really tempting for newcomers to position themselves as experts.
The reason why this is even possible, i.e., that people actually believe in false experts is very much related to the “hand” again. Yes, the virtual world has innumerable advantages, especially in the field of education. You have (almost) free access to knowledge. But the point is: learning in a virtual room does NOT allow you to actually DO something; to use your HANDS. This kind of learning is exactly what differentiates a real expert from some self-marketing bullshitter. The only thing that the latter actually has practice in is talking.
This gets us back to the importance of communication which I also talked about today with my podcast-guest (I need to find a name for the people I talk to — I am not happy with the terms host and guest in this setting…). What our conversation showed is that decent entrepreneurship depends on a few milestones that you need to get right and after that, it is very much about going the distance, having patience, fighting through obstacles. Aes, I am sure that Molcho probably also experienced obstacles. But these did not stop him from creating a legacy by training innumerous people, by spreading his knowledge in books and by actually putting his art on stage.
All this will last, at least for some decades.
The question is: How many of today’s (digital) entrepreneurs create something that really lasts?
Apart from the media “content” they create!
For those who actually want this, i.e., create companies that will endure and create value for society, Molcho’s wisdom is of crucial importance. Running a business necessarily involves selling your products and services. In order to manage this, you need to communicate. As Molcho and any other communication expert will teach you, communication is not about talking mostly, it is about reading other people by observing and listening well. I mean: real listening — not just taking a breath and thinking about what to say next.
Actually, these two elements, observing and listening, form the basis of all learning, including entrepreneurial education. The thing that needs to be added goes back to the passage: You need to take things into your own HANDS. And if you do not forget to also use your head in ways that other wanna-be founders do not — your chances are high that you will succeed. Just remember: The old books about communication, management, and other topics might not look pretty and the pictures might be of low quality. But the success factors that they teach you are invaluable and hard to find anywhere else — including the web. Yes, digital technology changes the way we communicate — but it does not change how our bodies reveal our messages.
Reflection Questions
1) How much attention do you pay to body language in your work environment?
2) Do you know anything else about Samy Molcho?
3) Do you think you can learn anything from entrepreneurs who are older than you and who might be active in a very different industry?