Perceptoin is reality

Like a firefighter, I too have put out many fires of the past few days. No, I wasn't risking my life by running into a burning building to save a family's memories. However, the blazes I battled were just as destructive.

This past weekend I spent several hours thinking about all the leaders who had impacted my life. I thought about how angry I used to get when I was asked to do something I may not have agreed with. Many times I can remember thinking "if I were the manager, I would never do this or be like that."

The truth is, unless you can understand the motivations of your leader you can never come to terms with that which you disagree with. As the title states, perception is reality. Think about it for a moment.....

You are asked to do something you don't understand or don't agree with. Will your level of effectiveness be as high as if you were asked to do something you felt was completely in line with your thought process? As much as you want to say yes, you would be just as effective, the truth is you wouldn't.

So what if the next time your supervisor came to you and not only asked you to accomplish a task but explained why they wanted you to do it? How would this change the perception you have of the task its self and how would it change your perception of your leader?

Like I said before, I spent quite a while thinking about how I can change the way I am perceived by those I lead. Reflecting on my style of management and comparing it to my past experiences brought me to a realization that while my employee's liked me as a person, they may not respect me because the don't understand my motivation.

So yesterday and today I set out to change the reality of my employee's. I held meetings with them on a one on one basis. We sat in the back office where the others couldn't hear us. I proceeded with my normal meeting where we reviewed the weekly metrics. I highlighted their individual strengths and discussed ways to improve their weaknesses. This time, this time it was different. Instead of simply showing them where they did well and where they could do better I explained why we looked at the numbers we do and why they were not only important to the company but to the individual as well.

I then took this process a step further. I decided to address all the little idiocracies that were causing rifts on the sales floor. The first impression I got was that they didn't enjoy being told that their personalities weren't cohesive to team building. This was expected. I then went into describing the "why" behind this portion of the conversation. I made sure not to upset the balance we had as a manager and employee as I still need these people to WANT to produce. Even if they had no hopes of hitting their monthly targets, I need them to hit the sales floor running.

After I discussed why we were talking about these topics I then took the conversation back to them. How could changing they way they projected themselves to the other reps benefit them in the long run. I noticed a change in their demeanor but it was still a one sided conversation. So, I completed my portion and then opened up the conversation. I pushed them to speak freely with me. If you were a fly on the wall you would have been simply amazed where the meeting went.

I was first met with a lot of aggression and resentment. After we moved past that, the true feelings came forward. It ended up being a truly productive conversation. Each person left that room with a clear understanding of the expectations, what they needed to improve upon to change the way they were perceived by the others and how this would benefit not only them as individuals but the entire team.

The remainder of the afternoon was rather calm and productive. The issues I had battled prior seemed as if they never occurred. Two reps who had previously fought tooth and nail were now helping one an other. It was amazing............

The question is this.......

Will this be a trend that continues or over time will it progressively get worse until it reaches the point it was before the meetings? Must I take this outlook on each and every meeting we have going forward until I am confident they have forgotten about their differences?

To these questions I do not know the answers. Only time will tell. I will continue to monitor their behavior. If their actions require immediate attention, it will be dealt with then. If I can avoid an uncomfortable discussion in front of the team by stepping out back then I will. My hopes are that my little "work place" experiment will be successful. Maybe I can finally begin to develop someone into an assistant manager. Maybe they will leave our store only to talk shit about me to their next group of peers? Regardless the outcome I do know this. When I go home at night, I can rest assured I am doing all that I can to help those I lead become not only better employees but better people.

Perception is reality. They way you perceive your employer affects your performance. The way you are perceived by those who employ you will affect the rate you are moved up the ladder.

The only way to change the destination awaiting you at the end of the road you travel is to change the perception you project.