I work for a large national retail chain. I interact with a lot of people every day. An important part of my job is to be able to speak to large groups of people and sometimes just one person. Some conversations are positive, some can be very sensitive and some could be dealing with conflict. The two people I choose are my supervisor, Ian and a supervisor that reports to me, Sam. Ian is new to my store, our relationship is good, and I am learning his leadership styles, what drives him and what he is passionate about. Sam has worked for me for five years; we also have a good relationship and know each other well. The exercise with Ian was in his office, it was an hour long and we were talking about the past week, he was away for training and wanted to get caught up with things at the store. The conversation with Sam was on the floor; we were walking the latest sales flyer and talking about how we can drive sales through our ad. The walk was forty five minutes. The first exercise was with Ian, the comfort level is not very high, he is my boss and he is new to our store. I don’t know where I stand with him, if he likes the work I do or if he likes my leadership skills. The meeting started very relaxed, we were talking about what took place the last week with the store and we talked about events in our own personal lives. At that time we were standing, I was standing tall, not leaning, he seemed more relaxed because he was running the meeting and knew the agenda. Once we sat down I knew the conversation would take on a serious feeling. I sat down, tense and sitting straight up, my arms to my side, both feet on the floor. As Ian was asking questions, if I had trouble keeping eye contact with him, if it was a question I could not answer right away, I would look up and to the side, until I found the right words to answer him properly. My facial expressions were at first, smiling and positive, but as the meeting progressed I became more serious and I felt myself grimacing and chewing my lips, which is a sign I became nervous. Throughout the entire conversation I kept my gestures simple. I did not move my hands or squirm in my seat. At the end of our status, I shook his hand and we exchanged a friendly smile. I felt like my behavior was not appropriate in the beginning of our status, Ian was relaxed and I was tight and nervous. Overall I think I was professional and kept my behaviors appropriate for the meeting. The second exercise was with Sam, we were conducting a status on the floor and it was much more casual then with Ian. The comfort level with Sam was high; we have worked together for years. As we stop and talk about issues, I find myself rocking side to side and front to back, which is a sign of impatience. My eye contact was not good; I really didn’t look directly at Sam, but around at the aisles and at customers. As we discussed issues we saw, I would squint, I was trying to make sense of the situation and thinking the ideas we would come up with through. My gestures with Sam were normal, but I kept crossing my arms when we would disagree about an issue. In this scenario, I think my behavior was not appropriate because of my comfort level with Sam. I was not as professional with Sam and showed disinterest during the walk. My overall expressions and gestures could have shown my disinterest, but I felt I finished the task at hand. As I analysis my nonverbal listening behaviors, my weakness would be eye contact and my strong skill would be posture. I found myself struggling to keep eye contact with Ian and Sam. I don’t think it was a lack of dishonestly, but a signal of nervousness. To help me with this skill I will look at my listeners for five to ten seconds before glancing away. I will also watch and see if there body language is conveying the message I am saying. My strength is my posture; I was in the military and learned how to hold myself physically. To maintain this skill I will continue to stand confident and not let my emotions dictate my overall appearance. To gauge my progress, I will ask my peers to watch and observe my nonverbal listening behaviors. I will tell them what my strengths and weaknesses are and ask them for their feedback. This was a good exercise for me, to help me with my communication skills. I feel I do struggle with eye contact and need to improve this behavior to better myself as a leader. The company I work for does a great job with feedback and going over your personal strengths and opportunities .I can layer this into my daily routines to better myself and get honest feedback from my peers that I know will be accurate.