Perception is in the eye of the beholder
There you are focused & determined, and people start saying you are blinkered & stubborn
Or, maybe you are enthusiastically pursuing a challenge and people see you as impulsive and reckless.
Alternatively, there you are, calm and understanding but being criticised for being passive and acquiescing.
What about the days when you have mustered up your discipline only to be seen as dogmatic and rigid?
Regardless of all your positive intentions, people aren’t seeing it.
“It all depends on how we look at things, and not how they are in themselves” - Carl Jung
We all have our personal filters, and we all interpret the behaviours of others
Walking boldly into the room and giving a firm and assertive handshake can easily be seen as arrogant and domineering – but how are you to know that?
Not only that, but no two people will interpret your behaviour in the same way, the more aggressive may see you as weak and the more passive may see you as overbearing.
Communicating and managing perceptions is not easy; if you want to have an impact on others’ perceptions, you need to take control of your communication and the messages you send.
“You cannot not communicate” Paul Watzlawick
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Most people’s communication is “implicit”; if you are heads down and focussed on getting stuff done, you probably expect people to understand that. However, if you don’t, “explicitly”, tell people what they need to know, their brains will fill in the gaps, and create a perception & interpretation that was not intended – this person is “ignoring me because they are not interested in me”
People’s perception of you are never “wrong”; it’s their perception, it may not coincide with your perception of you, but theirs is not wrong – just different.
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Some hints & tips for managing perceptions:
Do:
Do Not:
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“There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception” - Aldous Huxley