Leadership By D. A. Benton: Chapter Analysis

The author, D.A. Benton, begins the first chapter with examples of people who were stuck and never rose up the corporate ladder despite years of hard work and dedication. Despite all this, they could not connect well with other people and lacked the ability to seize the power and rise to the top and remain there. D.A. Benton mentions her expertise in observations and interviewing top business leaders. She states that her two-year career also came to a halt because she lacked human skills. The author conveys to readers that physical energy, intellectual energy, and emotional energy are essential to a top business leader’s success. Furthermore, top business leaders must be polished, enthusiastic, lucrative, and possess style (Benton, 1992).

A good handshake shows confidence and expertise. When shaking someone’s hand, Benton advises readers to pause momentarily to concentrate on the person one is welcoming, smiling at the other person, and looking the other person in the eyes. She provides several guidelines for making a good impression by shaking hands. One, be mindful of people’s need for personal space. Many cultural differences exist, so one should be respectful and aware of these differences. Two, a person should grasp the other person’s palm with their palm in a proper handshake. Three, communicate with the other person during a handshake. Four, one should pause for a bit during the handshake before removing their hand. Five, people should shake hands firmly with the other person but not be so forceful it hurts the other person. Six, if one wishes to show more warmth in their handshake, they can do so by using both their hands by putting their other hand over the embraced hands or by positioning their available hand on the other person’s arm or shoulder. Seven, people must pause again prior to removing their hand from the handshake (Benton,

Benton expresses how people can use touching to make a favorable impression. Top business leaders are knowledgeable on how to touch to generate a positive impression. Moreover, the author provides suggestions on how to impact people through effectively touching. The first suggestion on how to use touching effectively in a professional setting is to touch both genders in the same way all the time. The second suggestion is to demonstrate compassion and kindness. One should never touch anyone else in a sexually inappropriate way. The third suggestion is to know some people enjoy touch, while other people may not favor being touched. The fourth suggestion is to ensure one’s presence is noticed before reaching out to touch the other person. The fifth suggestion is to position one’s hand firmly on one’s hand, elbow, or should. However, the touching of the elbow is more appropriate for most cultures and nationalities. Sixth, pause with the touch briefly (Benton,