Dale Maxwell: Achieving Success Through The Power of Body Language

 

written by: Zanne Lamb-Hunt

Dale Maxwell’s early roots are in North Fork, Idaho “which is not quite the end of the world but you can see it from there,” he quips before adding, “I love my hometown.”

He attended Salmon High School. In his Freshman year, he helped build a radio station for the school after helping with the FCC paperwork. “I helped build the transmitter, the booth, the whole nine yards and in my Senior year we were on the air. My last semester, I was in the radio booth probably three of the five classes a day.”

Next stop? Broadcast Tech, where he graduated at the top of his class. But then he discovered that “the broadcasting industry was upside down and it really wasn’t my shtick.” He then held a long list of random jobs.

Later attending Boise State University (yes, home of the ‘Smurf Turf’ in Albertsons Stadium), he earned a degree in Broadcast Technology.

Dale is a life-long 4-H’r and that’s where he met his wife. After earning her Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine, she signed on with the military. She holds the rank of Major and is currently at Walter Reed.

They have a two-year-old son and a five-year-old daughter. “Luckily, both of my kids got their Mom’s smarts!” He goes on to modify, “They’ve got my smartass-ness but they’ve got their Mom’s intelligence.”

In his spare time, you’ll find him enjoying one of his “too many” hobbies. He especially loves snowboarding, movies, and networking.

A Few Facts About The Power of Body Language

* Body language is a subconscious reaction to our environment.

* Having the information and the ability to recognize body language means you can react appropriately to build relationships.

* It’s a fundamental piece of building a relationship in a very concise amount of time.

The Bus Ride To The Power of Body Language

Dale has remained involved with the 4-H program and still does several events each year. He recalls having the opportunity to go to D.C. with his 4-H group when he was in the 8th Grade.

Living in Idaho at the time, it seemed to him that “Washington D.C. was a world away! “We only see it in TV movies and our history books. It’s this foreign land to us.”

While on the trip, one gal was talking about “how guys and gals flirt without saying a word. It fascinated me! It flipped a switch. It triggered something in my brain.”

It led to a whole lot of ‘people watching’ as Dale took up the task of teaching himself about body language. Then, one of his 4-H mentors prompted him to share his knowledge by giving a talk about it at a Teen Conference.

“At that time, I was ridiculously shy. I couldn’t talk in front of anybody.” Yet, she managed to convince him to spend 20-30 minutes teaching others in her class.

He managed to fill the time without a struggle and create a huge buzz. It was about a seven-hour bus ride back home after he taught that first class.

Dale recalls, “The entire bus ride home, that’s all we talked about for like seven hours. That was really the moment when I was like ‘Holy Smokes’ — okay!”

He went on to take a few college classes on interpersonal communication. When he was about 21, he turned his knowledge and passion into a business. “I would actually teach sales professionals, realtors, direct salespeople, and the like, what it’s all about.”

Dale Shares A Few Pointers About Body Language

“If you’ve got any kind of sales training at all, you’ve heard of the term ‘mirroring’ — you want to ‘mirror’ the other person.

“The more comfortable they are with you, the more they are willing to answer your questions and divulge the information you need to better suit them and to build that relationship.”

“I’m huge on relationship building. That’s my thing. I’m not a hardcore lick ‘n stick salesperson. I’m about building the relationship. I’m looking at the long term.”

When talking to people, “look at them. See how they’re sitting. Try to mirror them. If you’re very different from them physically, then you’re not in sync with them.

“As you delve into this a little bit more, you recognize what’s positive body language and what is not positive. Then it gets a bit more tricky.

“Try not to cross your arms because subconsciously that’s kind of a blocking mechanism and you’re not very approachable.

“Keep your hands out. Use your hands. Be animated when you speak. Listen and pay attention to what they’re doing.”

What Has Been Dale’s Biggest Challenge?

Dale reveals there have been two major challenges along the way.

1. “When I first started, I was twenty or twenty-one. Age discrimination is a real thing. It was hard for me to overcome that age issue because I didn’t have the decades of experience that most people expect.”

2. “The biggest challenge professionally for me, and why I pulled the plug on it, was when we moved to a new area. I was following my wife in her military career.

“I was on fire! He’d go to this new community they had moved into and he’d get all sorts of positive feedback!

But…what? They were excited to take the valuable information but they had no interest in hiring him.

He had gone from his old community where everyone knew him to a new community where he had no references. “I was talking something they had no experience in.

“They recognized on an intellectual level that it was a benefit. But, when it came down to the dollars and cents, they weren’t willing to invest in themselves.”

Dale admits, “That completely demoralized me. It knocked the legs out from under me. I mothballed this for eight years.” Looking back now, he knows he would do things differently if he could go back in time.

“Stick with it, be relentless and don’t let other people’s opinions of you affect you negatively.”

What’s The App That Dale Isn’t Going To Give Up?

“Todoist is a task list manager on steroids. I use it for production management. I use it for everything. It’s great!

You can do collaborations. If you have a task, you can put a video in there. You can share it. It’s a great, great thing.” There’s both a free and a low-cost version.

A Reading Recommendation For Those Interested In Successful Leadership

Dale enthusiastically recommends John Maxwell’s 22 Laws of Irrefutable Leadership.

“If anyone is in a leadership position or wants to be an influencer in their community, that’s one of the top books that I suggest.”

He adds, “The two laws that always stick in my mind are the Law of the Lid and the Law of the Big Mo.

The Law of the Lid is about attaining the highest level of effectiveness by raising the leadership lid.

Dale uses the analogy of a flea in a bottle. “A flea can jump 19 inches. It’s insane. It can jump thousands of times its size. But, if you put a flea in a mason jar and put a lid on it, that flea is going to jump and hit its head on that mason jar lid.

“It’s going to jump and jump and jump until it learns. It will take a while but that flea is going to stop hitting the lid of that jar and it’s only going to jump just below the lid of that jar.

“You can take the lid off that jar at that point and that flea will stay in that jar because it will never jump beyond its intended potential. Now those fleas have baby fleas.

“Those baby fleas have the potential to jump 19 inches but they will never jump beyond what their parents will jump.

“We put ourselves into these situations all of the time. We don’t give ourselves the permission and the ability to go beyond what we think we can. That’s why we need mentors.”

And then there’s the Law of the Big Mo. This Law is all about the incredible force of momentum.

It’s equated with a train that’s speeding down the tracks at 60 mph. “It takes time to get that momentum up, but once it’s up — it can crash through anything!”

22 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Check it out!

Want to know more about the Power of Body Language? Want to know what was in that Teen Leadership talk that had the whole bus buzzing for seven hours? Want to build long-term relationships, develop meaningful contacts, and boost your sales?

Want a dynamic speaker for your next seminar, conference or sales training program? Want to sit down for a cup of java with one of the most interesting guys you’ll ever meet?

Contact Dale Maxwell today.

facebook.com/theDaleMaxwell
dale@yyesprinting.com
208-283-2855

Contents Provided by Frederick Advice Givers Podcast Episode #084: Eric Verdi Interviews Dale Maxwell