Perception becomes reality…..
Been doing a lot of interviews lately. Some good and some not so much.
That has reminded me of someone, a few jobs ago, early in my management experience. I had always considered one of the team members to be one of my most dependable and top people. Their work was usually bullet proof in terms of quality and the customer was usually quite happy. The challenge came however, in the way in which they interacted with me and when I noticed, with clients. This person had a way of timidly approaching me when there were issues, questions, or things they needed help with. It was as if the expectations they had on themselves was that they needed to know everything and couldn’t show any weakness or flaws.
Over time, I have to admit, my perception of this person changed. While the quality of the work remained high, their own insecurity and timidness in dealing with me began to convince my own thinking. After some period of time I had myself thinking that my initial impressions were not that correct. That they were in fact not one of my top people, even though other evidence indicated as such. Eventually we were able to address this perception issue and this person went on to enjoy a profitable career but it got me to thinking about my own past. How many times did I timidly approach a situation when there was no need to do so? What were the results? And better yet, how much business / career advancement time was lost as a result of my own lack of confidence? In fact as I write this I can recall one interview in particular where, I guarantee you that I didn’t get the job (and I knew it immediately when I saw my interviewer’s facial expression) because I entered his office with slumped shoulders and an insecure expression. Even though the rest of that hour went reasonably well in my eyes, I know now that he immediately reached a conclusion on that first impression.
The power of how you deal with someone distinctly influences how you are perceived, subtly and often without notice.
