Perception is Reality

Due to the fact that everyone relates to the world differently (see yesterday's post titled "Un-Multitask"), every employee also has a unique interpretation of what goes on in his or her own world or office environment. Each individual will create their own perception, which in-turn creates their own reality. You might be wondering what this has to do with leadership or the development of others. In order to effectively lead individuals out of a rut or through a tough situation from a performance or human resources standpoint, you have to gain a clear understanding of the employee's reality with regards to the situation. Correcting behavior is a far less costly road to travel than replacing behavior, so leaders can utilize the proper management of individual perception to improve operational performance. One essential part of a leader's responsibility in this process is in the well-being and continual shaping of a healthy reality for the individuals that they lead. Conflict typically arises when there are polar viewpoints about a subject within the same realm of responsibility or across departmental lines (sales and production, administration and sales, etc.). By being engaged and fairly and consistently applying company policy, good leaders can avert performance-killing and energy-draining perception-based situations.

When I have been involved in situations that have needed investigating or are in the need of being resolved, the solution will typically come down to reshaping perception based on clearing up misunderstandings. Misunderstandings can be avoided through improved leadership and a higher level of engagement in the shaping of individual opinions into group consensus by leadership. In the sales industry and in management development, it is not uncommon to hear how important it is to gain "buy-in" prior to implementation of a new initiative. In addition to gaining "buy-in" leaders must be engaged in ensuring that everyone has a clear understanding of organizational expectations, communication skills and individual office environments and behaviors.

Do you have someone on your team that has a misconstrued perception about their goals, your office's environment or in how you are leading your operation? If so, what are you doing to reshape their perception to match your reality?