Random musings: The 5 T’s of Mastering the Art of Poise

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

The 5 T’s of Mastering the Art of Poise

Today's blog post is from an article on The Art of Manliness:

Can you take a reprimand without blowing up? Can you take a turndown without being visibly discouraged? Can you laugh with the others when the joke is on you? Can you keep your spirits up when things go wrong? Can you speak in public without being noticeably ill at ease? Can you keep cool in emergencies?

The natural leader answers all these with a confident yes.

It is poise that makes one master of such situations. The natural leader is often a person who has deliberately acquired this poise.

There are a couple of stories in the article here, you can check them out in the original article.

Lack of poise is due to negligence, neglect of simple little habits. Here is what happened to one man who was giving himself the wrong start. He was beginning to fidget so much that people were uncomfortable in his presence. He was getting so ill at ease that he was justly worrying about himself and his future.

He was a brilliant young attorney, handicapped by a lack of poise. When things became difficult or when it looked as if a decision might go against him, he lost all poise.

Opposition lawyers had been quick to notice this, and capitalized on it. They made a point of annoying him until his nervous fidgeting turned into a complete loss of control.

He seemed destined for only a mediocre career, but he was wise enough to realize that he should do some thing to improve his poise. The five things he did for himself are easily remembered: each begins with the letter T.