Leadership and Perception
“All our knowledge is the offspring of our perceptions.”
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci (2014). “Delphi Complete Works of Leonardo da Vinci” Delphi Classics (p1360 of 1690)
When one stops to think about this quote from Leonardo da Vinci, two things come to mind. Firstly, that perception for an artist is everything. How they perceive the world, informs their artwork. As an artist, an understanding of perspective is also important. Da Vinci’s notebook contains drawings in various types of perspective. In the world of da Vinci, perception and perspective are cousins. How you perceive the world around you, colors your perspective of the world around you.
How you perceive things, events, people, and interactions is an ongoing activity, second by second, minute by minute, day by day. Sometimes, it happens on autopilot; other times, it is quite deliberate and intentional, seeking to answer the question, “What is this about?” One thing is certain: the impact of the perception that has been created, whether intentional or unintentional, can result in people voting with their feet, looking elsewhere for help, and often not voicing the reason why. This is highlighted extremely well in this observation from former US Secretary of State, Colin Powell.
“The day you are not solving problems or are not up to your butt in problems is probably a day you are no longer leading. If your desk is clean and no one is bringing you problems, you should be very worried. It means that people don’t think you can solve them or don’t want to hear about them. Or, far worse, it means they don’t think you care. Either way, it means your followers have lost confidence in you, and you are no longer their leader, no matter what your rank or the title on your door.”
Colin Powell (2012) It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership’ (eBook). New York, NY : HarperCollins. p49.
How does this work? Just how powerful can perceptions be?
A ground breaking study by Neuza Ribeiro, Arménio Rego in 2009, shed some light and perhaps sharpens our perception about perception!
“The paper shows how the perceptions of five organizational virtuousness dimensions (optimism, trust, compassion, integrity, and forgiveness) explain organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) (altruism, sportsmanship, courtesy, conscientiousness, and civic virtue)…The main findings are the following: (a) the perceptions of trust predict altruism; (b) the perceptions of integrity predict civic virtue.…When organization members perceive compassion, optimism and joy in their organizations they improve helping behaviors, truth-telling and altruism which, in turn, create upward spirals of positive feelings. It is suggested that positive organizational features (e.g., organization prestige, strengths, and virtues) increase organizational identification, leading individuals to experience positive feelings and these, in turn, induce OCB (e.g., altruism, sportsmanship, conscientiousness, courtesy, and civic virtue).”
Ribeiro, Neuza and Rego, Arménio. (2009). Does Perceived Organizational Virtuousness Explain Organizational Citizenship Behaviors? In World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology 30 2009 p1406.
For example, trust is one of the five organizational virtues and a predictor of ‘altruism’, the unselfish regard that a person has for others. We can see from the research of Neuroscientist, Professor Paul Zak, that it is also a predictor of job satisfaction and engagement.
“My team also found that those working in high-trust companies enjoyed their jobs 60% more, were 70% more aligned with their companies’ purpose.”
Zak, Paul, J. (2017). The Neuroscience of Trust, (Harvard Business Review Magazine). Boston, MA: Harvard Business Publishing.
In short, the perception of staff around the optimism of the organization, especially the leadership team, the depth of trust and compassion that is perceived as present in the organization, and the perception of integrity and forgiveness of all staff, including the leaders, determines the behaviors and ultimately the performance that will be seen of the organization. In short, perceptions predict behavior and, ultimately, the ways in which others, including those external to the organization, will view its performance and success. The observation made by Colin Powell in the previous quote shows how this can manifest itself. If people don’t perceive you as trustworthy or having compassion, they won’t bring their problems to you. If this is multiplied across other people, then the manifestation will mushroom into a belief that their leader doesn’t care. It is hard to maintain integrity, and it goes to the heart of what leadership seeks to do, to influence. To be a person of trust, compassion, and empathy really means being at peace with oneself, working on one’s own inner life on a regular basis.
“All of the research confirms that the heart profoundly affects our judgments, awareness, and intelligence, and that we very much make decisions with our heads and with our hearts.”
Crowley, Mark. C. (2022). Lead From The Heart: Transformational Leadership For The 21st Century (eBook). Carlsbad. California: Hay House, Inc. (Ch 1, p30 of 264).
Mark Crowley is on point in this quote from his wonderful book, ‘Lead From The Heart’. If people don’t care, they lack heart. If they lack heart, they lack compassion and empathy and may well lead to the perception that they can’t be trusted. Despite the research confirming how perceptions of the heart do affect judgments, awareness, intelligence and decision-making, the message can sometimes find it hard to cut through the noise. One could be forgiven for having the perception that business and its leaders are only interested in hard nose, quantifiable data. In many cases, hearing the story behind the data is perceived as a waste of time. This is one example of where perception can influence decision-making, even if it’s off-the-mark.
If perception is connected to emotion, then understanding the related research of Professor Paul Zak on the hormone and neurotransmitter, Oxytocin, and its impact on the power of perception, might be helpful.
“I have tested oxytocin release in the bedroom, board room, and bivouac. It occurs everywhere. I have documented more than a dozen ways to stimulate oxytocin production in my experiments. All it takes is a positive social interaction without too much stress or testosterone. Oxytocin just might be the molecule that makes us human. At least it is the molecule that creates our humanity. By understanding a little about the neuroscience of oxytocin, you can harness humanity at work. Believe me, the people at work want this. A key takeaway from this chapter is that culture is not static. It evolves as the people and purpose of the organization change.”
Zak, Paul, J. (2022). The Trust Factor: The Science of Creating High-Performance Companies (eBook). New York, NY : HarperCollins Leadership. (p21 of 203).
What the research of Professor Zak reveals, is that Oxytocin has the ability to bring humanity into the workplace. To help make real the “five organizational virtuousness dimensions (optimism, trust, compassion, integrity, and forgiveness) (and) explain organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) (altruism, sportsmanship, courtesy, conscientiousness, and civic virtue)”, needs Oxytocin. How simple is it to activate Oxytocin, a key ingredient to building caring, trustful relationships? At its most basic levels, Oxytocin is activated by a smile. Consider the power that a smile has on perception and the impact that it could have, if the contagion of smiling were to spread throughout the workplace. The positive perceptions of trust and empathy that it can create, should not be underestimated.
In essence, a key ingredient to any form of culture is the perception of the people, the actors at play, within the culture. How they perceive the leadership, their work, the purpose, mission, and vision that the organization sees itself as having, how they perceive each other, and even how they perceive the customers’ perception of them is ultimately woven into the organization’s culture.
How you perceive things, events, people, and interactions is an ongoing activity, second by second, minute by minute, day by day.
The importance of perception to the culture of the organization and the behavioral norms created by these perceptions was captured well by Edgar Schein in his ‘Dynamic Definition of Culture’ in his excellent book ‘Organizational Culture and Leadership’. Of course, culture is more than just perceptions; it is also the accumulated learnings of the group, and both go heavily towards shaping and forming the culture of an organization, including its health or toxicity.
“The culture of a group can be defined as the accumulated shared learning of that group as it solves its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, which has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, feel, and behave in relation to those problems. This accumulated learning is a pattern or system of beliefs, values, and behavioral norms that come to be taken for granted as basic assumptions and eventually drop out of awareness.”
Schein, Edgar, H., Schein, Peter. (2017). Organizational Culture and Leadership (5th Edition). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. (p39 of 552).
It’s worth considering that perception is viewed through several filters but always from the perspective of the person perceiving. The type of relationship a person has with people, including their relationship with themself, colors this. More often than not, the role you play in any particular set of circumstances will be a significant source of influence upon your perceptions and those external to it.
- How you see yourself (self-perception and self-awareness) reflects the relationship you have with yourself.
- How your family sees you, can be filtered by your role in the family, relative to others in the family.
- How friends and acquaintances see you, will be filtered by the connection or bond that brought you together as friends and the role you play in your circle of friends.
- How your colleagues see you will be filtered in large part by the role you play, relative to their position and the degree to which you engage with these colleagues.
It is critical for mission success in any organization, that people understand the power of perception and its impact on the culture of the organization. That of course suggests that they understand the power that organizational culture can have on their professional success and on their personal wellbeing.
“Culture matters because it impacts most other organizational dynamics; it influences how organizations and their staff manage complexity, ambiguity, and change. When organizational cultures are dysfunctional, staff become disengaged, and serious underperformance becomes a risk.” State Services Authority (Victoria). (2013). Organizational Culture. Melbourne, Australia: State of Victoria. (p9).
When an Anthropologist undertakes an Ethnographic study, they always have upper-most in their mind that the study may be colored through the personal perceptions that they make, not just the professional ones. They will attempt to triangulate a particular observation to ensure that there is some clarity and accuracy in what they observe and report. For example, at a formal dinner, is there some significance to the order in which people receive their food? Consider a wedding reception. Why do the bride and groom receive their food first? Is it because the dinner is in their honor? Alternatively, is it valid to perceive this through a pragmatic lens? The idea of giving the bride and the groom dinner first might be to ensure that the couple are fed before they go about the task and duty of visiting their invited guests at their tables and partaking in photo opportunities. Another alternate possibility is that the bride and groom happen to be the closest table to the kitchen and so got their food first. All of these are plausible. Whether these perceptions are reflective of reality would require further information to validate. Perhaps a conversation with the Chef + the details in the published program, + what the MC might say during the course of proceedings might confirm one of these perceptions. Perception checking is a critical tool, particularly useful in referencing the culture of the organization you work in.
All of this raises the question: How can we improve our perceptions, especially of others? The useful text ‘Communication in the Real World’ published by the University of Minnesota Libraries contains a lot of good information that might help us better understand the power of perception and how to improve it.
- We can improve self-perception by avoiding reliance on rigid schemata, thinking critically about socializing institutions, intervening in self-fulfilling prophecies, finding supportive interpersonal networks, and becoming aware of cycles of thinking that distort our self-perception.
- We can improve our perceptions of others by developing empathetic listening skills, becoming aware of stereotypes and prejudice, and engaging in self-reflection.
- Perception checking is a strategy that allows us to monitor our perceptions of and reactions to others and communication.
(Author Removed at Request of Publisher). (2016) Communication in the Real World. Minneapolis. MN: University of Minnesota Libraries. (p122).
Perception brings about change. It has the ability to positively or negatively impact upon the individuals within the organization and the organization as a collective. For a person sitting a job interview for a government agency, their perception of the agency, in a more global context, and their ability to perceive themselves as having a successful career within this agency, are going to be important factors in the interview being successful. The perceptions taken of the candidate by the panel will obviously impact the decision and the outcome of the panel. That perception is guided by objective measures such as the extent to which the candidate meets the essential criteria of the position. Whilst it is hard, coming across as a friendly but professional person is going to help. Giving the impression, at the panel and through reference checks, that they are capable of demonstrating themselves as: optimistic, trustworthy, compassionate, having integrity and can forgive when called upon, the five organizational virtuousness dimensions, will help them immensely. The extent to which they can demonstrate capacity around organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) (altruism, sportsmanship, courtesy, conscientiousness, and civic virtue), will also have an impact upon the panel. What the candidate wants is for the panel to perceive that they would be a good fit for the culture of the organization. Assuming the culture is in good health, it would be what the leadership should want also. Being self-aware, employing empathy and good skills such as active listening and checking perceptions for their accuracy, should help our new recruit to embed themselves within the culture of the organization and be an agent of change from within.
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” Anne Frank
Anne Frank, Gerrold van der Stroom (Ed). (2003). Anne Frank’s Tales from the Secret Annex: A Collection of Her Short Stories, Fables, and Lesser-Known Writings, Revised Edition. New York, NY: Bantam Books.
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