THREAD: Body Language Analysis No. 4407: Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi brushes off Jamal Khashoggi& #39;s Murder as & #39;Mistake& #39; — https://youtu.be/0NReTNRlF6g ">https://youtu.be/0NReTNRlF... — #BodyLanguage #BodyLanguageExpert #Nonverbal #EmotionalIntelligence #DaraKhosrowshahi #JamalKhashoggi #MBS #Uber #CrisisManagement
1/ Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi was recently interviewed by Axios. A short, but crucial clip of that interview was released on Sunday 10 November 2019. In it, Khosrowshahi was asked about Saudi Arabia& #39;s murder of Washington Post journalist and US resident, Jamal Khashoggi.
2/ What follows is a partial nonverbal, verbal, and paralanguage analysis of this exchange.

Please watch the video first with the sound off and again with the sound on.
3/ Immediately after, Mr. Primack says the word, "murder" ("the CIA has assessed that the Saudi government, including the Crown Prince, had a role in that murder"). Mr. Khosrowshahi begins repeatedly extending and flexing his right middle finger.
4/ Such twitching is a general signal of anxiety, but more specifically, it& #39;s a falls into a category of nonverbal behavior known as a Partial Emblematic Slip.
5/ The label & #39;Partial& #39; applies because this is a gesture that is not being displayed in a typical, elevated, overt, hand-and-finger on full display fashion — usually in front of and on a level with the user& #39;s upper body or face.
6/ The twitching represents multiple jabs/multiple expressions of the "Fuck You!" thought-emotion. The gesture is camouflaged within the other fingers.
7/ This act hidden within the context of his leaning back, legs crossed, talking about murder, trying-too-much-to-appear-to-be-relaxed configuration is also passive-aggressive. Moreover, it suggests impulse control difficulties.
8/ It& #39;s called an & #39;Emblematic& #39; because of the highly specific meaning of the extended middle finger — universally recognized as: "Fuck You! or "Fuck off!"
9/ (It& #39;s important to emphasize, there are many other emblems the meanings of which are regional or local. The extended middle finger gesture, however, carries an understanding known worldwide.)
10/ The nomenclature & #39;Slip& #39; description is used because it& #39;s nearly always a subconsciously generated nonverbal act. The emotion/signal & #39;leaks& #39; out — and in so doing, telegraphs a person& #39;s true thought-emotions, regardless of their words.
11/ The greater the anger, the less a person is aware of what their face and body are doing. This body language axiom also applies even when a person is relatively skilled at controlling the outward appearance of their anger (at least to the untrained eye).
12/ Watch carefully, as Mr. Khosrowshahi is saying, "We had a board meeting at the same time", his right cheek appears to & #39;twitch& #39;.
13/ These are not simple contractions and relaxations of the muscles necessary to speak these words. Rather, these are several superimposed microexpressions of Contempt in quick succession (0:23).
14/ Immediately thereafter, Mr. Khosrowshahi displays an expression of anger. His eyebrows are lowered. He is trying to make it appear as a smile, but it& #39;s a poor ruse. Note the horizontal orientation of his lips and the tightening of his mid-face and flaring of his nostrils.
15/ His lips are also stretched and thinned. All of these features are more difficult to see with his facial hair.
16/ Then Mr. Primack says, "Well that& #39;s convenient, you& #39;re the CEO, you probably could have rescheduled it.

Mr. Khosrowshahi responds, "We schedule board meetings, years and years ahead, it wasn& #39;t — ah (b— inaudible)"
17/ As Khosrowshahi says, "We schedule" his eyes are closed as he shakes his head side-to-side. He& #39;s already begun to blush and tries to suppress a true (Duchenne) smile.
18/ As his blushing and crescendos, he continues shaking his head — and is unable to suppress his (true) smile.
19/ After the last word in this sentence (b— inaudible, 0:30), note an additional microexpression of contempt on Khosrowshahi& #39;s right side.
20/ Primack then asks, "Would you, if your board meeting had not been that day, would you have gone?"

Khosrowshahi answers, "I don& #39;t know if I would& #39;ve."
21/ Notice during the end of his reply and for a split-second thereafter, Dara Khosrowshahi, nods his head up-and-down. His nonverbal "Yes" clearly contradicts his simultaneous verbal "No".
22/ Whenever the body language is disparate with the verbal language, it& #39;s the body language that tells the truth.
23/ Beginning at 0:42, Khosrowshahi says, "I think he& #39;s been a very constructive board member, Yasir has — ahhh, Annnd, I personally have valued his input greatly."
24/ As he says, "I" (" personally"), the Uber CEO shrugs both shoulders (0:47). A shrug indicates the thought-emotions of:

• I don& #39;t know

• I don& #39;t care

• What does it matter?
25/ As he says, "input" his right eyebrow and right forehead elevate (0:49). This signifies that Khosrowshahi doubts his own statement — and does NOT value Yasir Al-Rumayyan& #39;s input.
26/ Khosrowshahi then says, "Ah, it& #39;s up to him whether he wants to stand for re-election."
27/ As he says, "to him" (0:51), he shrugs his shoulders again — while his forehead elevates across its entire width a split second earlier (during "up"). In this context, his forehead dynamic is very much a Forehead Shrug ("I don& #39;t know", "I don& #39;t care", "What does it matter?")
28/ Yet another contempt microexpression display can be seen during the last syllable of "re-election" (0:52).
29/ Another Shoulder Shrug at 1:03 as he says, "I think" ("I think that government, ahhh, said that they made a mistake, ahhhum — ")
30/ And another Shoulder Shrug (1:09) as he says, "Listen it& #39;s" ("Listen it& #39;s — it& #39;s, it, it& #39;s a serious mistake ...").
31/ His vocal tone as he says, "Listen" is profoundly telling. This particular high-pitched pattern is both hyper-rationalizing and patronizing.
32/ Coupled with the shoulder shrug and clustered with his continued fingers-interlaced, knee-holding while in a figure-4 pattern leg crossing — all scream out nonchalance, indifference, rationalization, and the seeking of co-rationalization.
33/ While there are exceptions, crossing one& #39;s legs, particularly in a figure-4 type manner is not recommended during an interview. Depending on the other behavior with which it is clustered, it tends to project nonchalance, arrogance, aloofness, and defensiveness.
34/ Twice, as he says the word, "serious", Dara Khosrowshahi suppresses a smile (1:11). The two men were discussing Jamal Khashoggi& #39;s premeditated torture and murder orchestrated by a head-of-state.
35/ Given the serious nature of this subject, why was he suppressing a smile? Suppressed smiles are always red flags.
36/ As he says, "We& #39;ve" ("We& #39;ve made mistakes too, right? ..."), he once more suppresses a smile while he again raising his forehead asymmetrically along with his right eyebrow (doubting the validity of his comparison between murder and malfunctioning self-driving cars), (1:12).
37/ As he says, "right?", Khosrowshahi nods his head up and down and continues on to finish his statement (1:13). The query, "right?" is not a real question — rather it& #39;s a manipulative verbal device.
38/ Along with his nodding, its intention is in getting the listener to agree with the premise of a question or statement, so as to increase the likelihood that it will be entirely believed, agreed with, and/or answered favorably.
39/ While we all do this occasionally, those who routinely behave in this manner have highly manipulative and possibly even sociopath personalities (Antisocial Personality Disorder).
40/ Khosrowshahi renews this pattern as he says, "And we stopped driving, and we& #39;re recovering from that mistake".
41/ His up-and-down head nodding, drawing false equivalents between Uber& #39;s self-driving mistakes and premeditated murder, along with a more patronizing tone of voice (delivered in a listen-boys-and-girls tone) are highly-manipulative, rationalizing, and co-rationalizing.
42/ Another Shrug is displayed during 1:25 ("I don& #39;t know", "I don& #39;t care", "What does it matter?") as Khosrowshahi says, "and from my standpoint"
43/ ("So I think that people make mistakes, it doesn& #39;t mean that they can never be forgiven. I think they& #39;ve taken it seriously and from my standpoint ...").
44/ Khosrowshahi then says, "I didn& #39;t — read that part of the CIA report. You& #39;re, you& #39;re obviousy [sic] deeper in it". Throughout most of this sentence, he gestures with his hands and fingers in a pseudo-jazz-hands manner.
45/ Notice also his prior pause, emphasis, and word-stretching as he says "read" as well as his mispronunciation of the word obviously ("obviousy")
46/ He then chuckles/feigns laughter (1:40). This cluster of behavior is meant to dismiss the common-knowledge of the CIA& #39;s findings. (i.e., I don& #39;t have time for that!).
47/ Another shoulder shrug at 1:42, when he says, "But I think" ("But I think from a Saudi perspective...)
48/ More unilateral eyebrow/forehead elevation (1:45 - 1:46) — doubting his own statement of "... they& #39;re just like any other shareholder, right?" (and notice the use of the manipulative question, "right?" once again).
49/ Just prior to saying (1:51), "And they& #39;re a big investor just like you could be a big investor as well" he looks down to his right (highly correlated with sorrow, guilt, shame, and deception).
50/ Throughout the first half of this sentence, he also displays a prolonged shoulder shrug.
51/ The next time you watch a sports figure being interviewed after a loss, mute the sound. You will notice a similar body language pattern of repeated shoulder shrugs exhibited by Uber& #39;s CEO displayed throughout this interview segment.
52/ The player, like Khosrowshahi, will be backpedaling — trying to be dismissive and saying it& #39;s not really his fault.
53/ Khosrowshahi& #39;s gesture toward his interviewer shows, once again, the same pattern of manipulation — (i.e., "You too can be the proud owner of ..."). This is a nonverbal analog of what Gavin de Becker refers to as Forced-Teaming.
54/ After the interview, Dan Primack tweeted this:
55/ The next day, Khosrowshahi retweeted Primack& #39;s tweet with the following comment:
56/ True apologies, however, can never be conducted via Twitter. The components of a Sincere Apology are:

A. An apology must always be given by the person who committed the act in question - not by a manager, an attorney, a press secretary - or other surrogates.
57/ B. An apology must never be scripted - but must be spoken from the heart.
58/ C. An apology to the public should be given live - with press access. While some substitute this with a prerecorded video-audio format - this projects an attempt at control and viewed as considerably less sincere.
59/ D. A public apology to a surrogate or group should never be a substitute for apologizing a person face-to-face.

E. There must be a clear acknowledgment of responsibility.

F. A commitment to change must be made - so as to prevent further infractions.
60/ G. An apology must include a specific repair offering (which should also include an asking, "What would you have me do to help make amends?")
61/ H. Asking for forgiveness is required with an apology (e.g., Saying, "I& #39;m sorry", while required - is incomplete. One must also say, "Please forgive me", or "In time, I hope you will find it in your heart to forgive me", or similar.
62/ I. Regret must be expressed - "I very much regret what I did to you".

J. The vocal qualities (tone, cadence, volume, etc.) must be congruent with sincerity.

K. The facial nonverbal signals and other body language displays must reflect sincerity.
63/ SUMMARY: During a recent "Axios on HBO" interview, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi called the premeditated murder of Jamal Khashoggi by Mohammed bin Salman a "mistake".

continued ...
64/ SUMMARY (continued): Soon thereafter, via twitter, he attempted to apologize and retract his words. His was not a true apology — it was, however, profoundly poor crisis management...
65/ SUMMARY (continued): Dara Khosrowshahi repeatedly displayed a partial emblematic slip in the form of a "Fuck You" middle finger to his interviewer. He displayed contempt toward Mr. Primack multiple times as well.
66/ SUMMARY (continued): Khosrowshahi lied about the scheduling of Uber& #39;s board meetings "years and years" in advance...
67/ SUMMARY (continued): Khosrowshahi lied about his knowledge of the CIA& #39;s report regarding Jamal Khashoggi& #39;s murder...
68/ SUMMARY (continued): Dare Khosrowshahi does not place great value on Yasir Al-Rumayyan& #39;s input as an Uber Board member...
69/ SUMMARY (continued): The Uber CEO displayed multiple arrogance behaviors.

Dara Khosrowshahi& #39;s true thought-emotions toward Jamal Khashoggi and his murder were dismissive and with no empathy.

END
You can follow @DrGJackBrown.
Tip: mention @twtextapp on a Twitter thread with the keyword “unroll” to get a link to it.

Latest Threads Unrolled: