Why Swagger Matters
3 ways swagger can help define you
Free spirited guy of the 70’s, entitled frat boy, intellectual man, self depreciating funny guy, entrepreneur, father. These references describe me at various points in my life. And at each point a different swagger prevailed. Swagger is a complicated subject because its not really something that can be pinned down. Some might notice your swagger while others don’t. Why then does swagger matter? It matters because it says a lot about your personality. Personality is what attracts others to us.
Swagger is a non verbal display of character traits, or more aptly a subliminal way of promoting our confidence. When we are young we generally want our swagger front and center for the world to see. As we age though swagger, or a lack thereof, can define how others perceive us. There are times we simply need swagger and others when we don’t.
Mostly though we want swagger to communicate how we define ourselves, in the way we walk, talk, act, think, and write.
I often want swagger to convey I’m a cool cat, but not falsely cool. I want swagger to speak volumes about my intelligence too, but since I’m not always serious about being serious I also want swagger to poke fun at me.
Postulating a swagger persona can play an important role in the perception others have of us, so it matters. In business this perception can mean the difference between winning Vs. losing, or success and failure. Swagger is the unspoken way we think, act, and communicate. Following are 3 simple ways to help your swagger define you.
Swagger can help us: Think carefully. Act confidently. Communicate with attentive authority.
Think
What we say is mostly what we think. Filtering aside, when we articulate our thoughts they are typically framed around our present state of mind. This frame of mind is influenced by the environment in which we exist and the persona we most identify at that given moment in time.
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Therefore, the swagger we most identify with in the moment will influence how others perceive us. Thinking confident thoughts allows our swagger to display personal confidence.
Act
In a business environment it is expected we act appropriate to the present environment. If you live in the startup culture then ‘work’ might look different than say at a S&P 500 corporate headquarters. Extended work hours may consists of beer pong or shots toasted to a killer game score then you, if you partake, should feel comfortable allowing your party boy/girl swagger to surface to add context to the environment.
This is opposed to early morning meetings where important business is conducted. In which case the swagger dagger you should bare is that consistent of a professional filling the role you play in those meetings. Our behavior actions influence perception.
Behavior swagger plays an important role in how you are perceived by your peers and customers. It’s important to maintain a swagger appropriate for the moment.
Communicate (Speak/Write)
Our internal voice, the one that emanates while we annunciate, or speaks our written words, communicates our swagger. This voice, aided by word choice, voice inflection, sentence structure, and a host of other delivery methods determine whether others find us engaging. If they do to what extent? Do they find our tone boring, or ultra engaging? After hearing your voice do others feel like they might want to hang out with you?
Engaging others to our point of view takes more than persuasive language. Swagger maybe the missing element. Creating authority through swagger can engage others to have confidence in your thoughts, actions, and words.
Swagger matters because it conveys the subliminal elements of your personality, elements that are impossible to distinguish other than through experience and observation. When swagger is present it allows us to think positive driving us to act confidently and to engage counterparts with a degree of confident authority. Emoting a degree of swagger when interacting with others can be a useful tool in business, in life, and perhaps even in love.
Muhammad Ali had swagger (watch the end)
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