Handshake

A handshake can be soft, firm, brief, long, or even painful. The way you shake hands provides clues to your personality. Aggressive people have crushing handshakes. People with low self esteem often have a limp handshake. Domineering men often squeeze the hand of women during a greeting. So adopt a handshake that is firm, yet not crushing. Convey confidence and professionalism, not dominance.


In the business setting a handshake is a simple yet powerful gesture. When meeting someone for the first time I find that I am usually the first one to extend my hand in greeting. This is probably because I try and put people at ease and when I started in business it was awkward for men to know how to greet a business woman. I stand, extend my hand and say my name. Simple straight forward and seems to work.


This week I spent a lot of time meeting new people since it is my first opportunity to visit our Cincinnati office. We have three locations; Bellevue, Costa Mesa and Cincinnati. The history is that the company in Cincinnati bought the company in Bellevue and then that new company bought up the company in Costa Mesa. All of this has happened in the last 24 months I have the advantage of observing the interaction between the three offices as somewhat of an outsider because I am new and don’t have any history with any of the companies and let me tell you that there are a number of strong emotions with some of these people in respect to the “old” companies.


This was painfully obvious when I met one of the key managers of the data team here in Cincinnati. He is very threatened by all of the changes these acquisitions have brought. He and I had communicated a little via email but really not much. As Chuck walked over to the desk I was working from I stood and extended my hand and said, “Hi, I’m Karen Pearson.” Now this guy is not very big, stands less than 6 feet tall and obviously doesn’t spend much time in the gym, but when this guy grabbed my hand he was out to prove something. I believe in a firm handshake, but honestly when he clinched my hand pain shot up through my wrist to my elbow and I thought for a moment he broke my thumb. It took everything in me not to pull back and I sure hope I didn’t flinch too much.


There is no easier way to expose what is really inside then by how you greet a person. So what is your handshake saying about you?