How Are You Known?

It’s an important question: How are you known? 

How do others perceive you? Are you seen as approachable, open, curious, empathetic, willing to coordinate efforts, open to discussion or debate? Or are you viewed as cold, closed off, unwilling to compromise, and reactionary? Is it a combination, or does it depend on the day? These questions are asked and answered unconsciously during our interactions with our colleagues and staff. For the first few interactions, you are a clean slate. Each interaction builds on the previous to understand the ground rules of your relationship. What you say and do tells the other person what they can expect from an interaction with you. 

But it doesn’t end there. Our interactions with people aren’t siloed. Staff talk. Our direct interactions create a legend about who you are as a person, colleague, and leader. New staff will enter into a workplace where your reputation may have already been established. Before even meeting you, they may hear your legend. They may come into their first interaction with you already equipped with an entire narrative and expectations about how you will behave. 

Every interaction we have solidifies or shifts our legend. Not just with those we directly interact, but with those in contact with our colleagues and staff. This is the Ripple Effect. Every action we take, or don’t take, leaves an impression upon those directly involved, and creates a ripple out to those associated with our colleagues and staff. 

It is up to us to become aware of this ripple, how far out it stretches, and how to navigate the legend it creates about us.