Right from the outset

Chapter 1, Part 4 - Corporate Brand Personality

The first impression you make has never been more important than it is in business today. We live in a very visual, image-conscious and fast-moving world, where that vital first impression is made in seconds.? In fact, a study at Princeton University by Alexander Todorov, illustrated that we make a first impression in 1 10th of a second (Psychological Science July 2006).?? Whether it’s 10 seconds or less, the fact is that we never get a second chance to make that impression. It can take many more experiences with a person to change a first impression and often in business we don’t get that opportunity if it’s a negative one. Harvard Business School social psychologist, Amy Cuddy, says that when meeting someone for the first time, we form not one impression, but two.?“We’re judging how warm and trustworthy the person is, and that’s trying to answer the question, ‘What are this person’s intentions toward me?’ And we’re also asking ourselves, “How strong and competent is this person?’”? Her research shows that these two traits, trustworthiness and confidence, account for 80 to 90 per-cent of first impressions.

When we meet somebody for the first time, we will take in the non-verbal communication first of all – the dress, appearance and body language.? Then when they start to speak, we take in the clarity, credibility and impact of the voice. From what we see and how we hear it, we decide in seconds whether they are worth listening to or not. We will then hook into the content more effectively, or not as the case may be.

Think of those times when you’ve been at a corporate conference and the speaker, perhaps the Head of Finance comes on stage and says, “Sorry I’ve not prepared for today so I hope this goes ok….”, what are you likely to be thinking at this point? Certainly not confident in what they are about to share with you. Then they proceed to compound this poor opening with reading directly from slides so their voice isn’t projected into the audience clearly. This weak and uninspiring style continues throughout the 40 minutes of the presentation, creating a significant negative layer to their brand and that of the company ultimately. It suggests in the minds of the audience, lack of respect due to poor preparation, lack of self-awareness and lack of coaching to present an inspiring message.

Business leaders today have no excuse for not presenting well – there are many opportunities to improve presentation skills and stage presence and we will cover some more on this in Chapter 7 – Presentational Brand. It is a necessary skill that you are expected to master.

?Halo or horns

We can also associate a ‘halo or horns’ effect to first impressions.? If you have a positive impression of somebody during the initial stages of a conversation for example, what you tend to do is sub-consciously pick-up on other positive things about that person as the conversation goes on. Then you ‘hear’ positive things from other people about them too and the impression you have is affirmed in your mind. The same happens with a negative first impression – you will sub-consciously search for other negative elements you hear or read about them and the impression is reinforced.? The lesson to be taken away is to bring your first impression to your conscious radar more, rather than leaving it in the depths of oblivion.

?A global concern

This apparent lack of appreciation for the significant power and opportunity that the people behaviour element of the corporate brand represents is not just happening in isolated countries or industries. From our international work and experience, we find this deterioration of effective communication in the corporate world happening in other parts of the globe, across all sectors, to varying degrees. Furthermore, different cultures dictate a different level of people behaviour and therefore customer experience, and this fact alone could have a significant impact on doing business globally.

Creating a consistency of experience becomes even more difficult when our businesses span across several global geographical areas. For example, I find when dealing with some Latin American countries, a lack of or slow communication or acknowledgement of a communication is commonplace in their culture and it is not considered disrespectful to others. However to other cultures outside of Latin America, this type of behaviour could become significantly detrimental to doing business. Germans and Northern Europeans tend to be very exacting and responsive – if we connect the Germans with the Latin Americans you can see the perceptions that can be created and the potential damage to business relations as a result.

Whilst we cannot and should not attempt to change global cultures, we do need to be mindful of the differences and appreciate the added need for establishing corporate values and ensuring that they are fully understood, taken on-board and reinforced by all individuals every day, wherever they are in the world.

?It appears therefore that this is a global business concern, as companies continue to expand across international and cultural borders. However at the same time, it is a perfect opportunity to stand out and for your corporate brand to be remembered for all the right reasons.

?Moving forwards

The important realisation in this Chapter is the significant gap that is now growing rapidly between customer expectations and the actual experience they receive and ultimately talk about. People behaviours are becoming generally more, not less apathetic, and whilst there is a recognition that this is the case, very few companies are putting in the required energy and resources to address it really effectively.?

?Use this as the starting point for change, and as we work through the next Chapters you can begin to put the ‘meat on the bones’ to form a strategy to activate positive behavioural change in your individuals, teams and leadership, and ultimately shift to an enhancement in culture in terms of trust and respect, internally and externally.

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Copyright Lesley Everett 2024?

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