The Myth of the Power Pose
Why standing like Wonder Woman won’t fix your leadership problems (and sometimes makes things worse)
If you’ve ever been told:
“Just stand like a superhero before a big meeting,”
“Put your hands on your hips to feel confident,”
“Take up space and power will follow”
…then congratulations, you’ve met the infamous Power Pose.
It stormed the world like a TED Talk wrapped in spandex:
Stand big → Feel powerful → Become successful.
Great story.
Sadly, like many great stories, it belongs in the fiction section.
Where did Power Posing come from?
In 2010, researchers claimed that two minutes of standing in a superhero-style position caused:
✅ An increase in testosterone
✅ A decrease in cortisol
✅ More risk-taking
✅ More confidence
The media devoured it.
Instagram rejoiced.
Conference rooms everywhere are filled with adults standing like Batman.
Then… the science hit a wall.
Follow-up studies couldn’t replicate the findings.
And in science, if nobody else can get the same result, the original result loses its crown.
The data fell apart.
So, does power posing do anything?
Here’s the surprising bit:
✅ It can make you feel a bit more confident
❌ But it does not change body chemistry
❌ It does not change long-term behaviour
❌ It certainly doesn’t make people respect you automatically
Standing like Wonder Woman for two minutes doesn’t make you Wonder Woman.
It makes you a person standing like Wonder Woman.
Cute, yes. Transformational, no.
But here’s the bigger issue…
Power posing teaches people to imitate confidence instead of creating it.
Real presence isn’t about posing.
It’s about balance, breath, groundedness, and resonance.
If you power pose with a tight jaw, clenched throat, collapsed ribs, and shallow breath, you simply become a tense superhero impersonator.
And a tense body cannot produce a calm, authoritative voice.
Ever.
So what works instead?
Replace posING with posiTIONING.
Try this:
✅ Stand on two feet (no leaning, no hip popping)
✅ Unlock the knees
✅ Let the spine lengthen
✅ Drop the shoulders
✅ Breathe into the ribs
Now speak.
You didn’t “act confident.”
You allowed your body to function optimally — which creates confidence, not pretends it.
Presence isn’t a pose.
Presence is a state.
The Ancient Version
Cicero wrote that authority comes from gravitas — not from striking a shape, but from the calm control of the body:
Feet grounded
Chest open
Breath steady
Gesture aligned with meaning
Voice flowing naturally from the breath
The ancients never said:
“Stand like a superhero and they will obey.”
They said:
“Hold your body with dignity, and the voice will carry your power.”
Would you like me to include a short tip sheet leaders can use for “pre-performance physical setup” — something far more effective than a power pose?
Let me hear your thoughts.
Love,
Dr Louise Mahler