Why gravitas is important for your career

Learned behaviour or mystic aura?

Importance in career development

Gravitas development tips

Dress in a manner that commands respect. Clean clothes are a must even when it comes to casual Fridays, more so when wearing business suits.

Adopt good body posture – stand up straight, elongate your spine, and avoid slouching when sitting or standing up. Be sure to hold yourself in a manner that expresses your confidence and commands respect from others without bordering on arrogance.

Be conscious about your body language, facial expressions and tone of voice. These will take practice but when you have it down pat, everything else becomes natural.

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Gravitas is usually associated with perceptions of influence, authority , dignity and importance. The strength of this association is so strong that it leads others to feel more confident with the person that has gravitas despite their levels of experience, education or skills. In other words it can override and be dominant against many other attributes.But is Gravitas something that can be acquired through learning or a luminous radiation surrounding a person that they are born with?In Roman society, gravitas (gravity) was one of the desired virtues among men and women along with dignitas (dignity), pietas (piety), and virtus (virtue). In the modern world, gravitas is considered one of the most important attributes to develop for a career. Indeed, the possession of gravitas can make careers, especially among individuals who want to achieve top jobs.The physical attributes of a person with gravitas generally resembles a well groomed professional who is confident and smartly, and appropriately attired for the work that they do. They will also have good body posture, tone and volume of voice, and be able to talk authoritatively about the work that they do.In terms of mental state and emotional responses, a person who possesses gravitas is associated with good judgement even under pressure, the ability to speak in an inspiring manner, and command respect from peers and subordinates.It goes without saying that having gravitas is important and possession of it can help you get to places that you would not have got to on just hard work, skills and education alone.Such is the power of this magic that some people seem to have in spades and for others it evades.According to Albert Mehrabian, a University of California psychology professor emeritus, 55% of first impressions are made based on appearances (i.e., what the eyes can see) alone while the tone of voice including its pace, pitch and volume contributes to just 35% of the impressions. This means that only a mere 10% will go to the actual impact of the content being presented.So as much as the substance of your brains including your top-notch education, training and work experience matters, you should also put effort into your charismatic appeal.You may be the smartest pebble on the beach but if you're not commanding attention or taken seriously then you'll be one pebble among millions trying to be noticed.There are people who seem to be born with more gravitas but fortunately it is also something that can be developed. The following tips can help you work on your professional appeal.Use appropriate language depending on the situation. Make eye contact with people. Use the right tone of voice, pitch and volume when talking to them.While gravitas may take hard work on your part, its benefits will all be worth it.At Morgan Hunt we emphasise the importance of gravitas in career development and, thus, we assist our job applicants in developing it. We also maintain in-depth knowledge about the sectors we are involved in so that we can closely work with both clients and candidates.For more information, contact us ator email us now.