The leader and perception
Perception
Perception is how sensory data is arranged, analyzed, and consciously experienced. Both bottom-up and top-down processes are involved in perception.
The term bottom-up processing describes how perceptions are created from sensory information.
The information we have, the experiences we’ve had, and the ideas we’ve had affect how we interpret those feelings. We refer to this as top-down processing.
Others’ Perceptions
The most crucial concept to comprehend is that success as a leader has nothing to do with your perceptions and everything to do with how others see you.
This doesn’t mean that you should disregard or alter your perceptions, but rather that leaders should be more aware of the perceptions of others.
If you are out of touch with the perspectives of others, your success as a leader will suffer.
You can better understand and affect someone’s thoughts and eventually have more control over their decision-making process if you know where they stand.
Great Leaders and Perception
Great leaders understand this truth. Poor leaders rely on a my way or the highway attitude, and this does not produce the kind of culture that leads to a winning organization.
These critical leadership qualities are taught and refined in Charleston Southern University’s Master’s program in organizational leadership.
Charleston Southern University encourages students to have a sense of purpose, to become comfortable leading change, and to continually progress through their careers.
How a leader impacts the world is directly correlated with the types of decisions they make and the types of values they instill. How do you perceive others? More importantly, how do they perceive you?
David Gelb is pursuing his Master’s in business at Charleston Southern University. He is also finishing his football career and looking forward to internship and job opportunities.
References
O. (2014). What is Perception? – General Psychology. Pressbooks. https://pressbooks.online.ucf.edu/lumenpsychology/chapter/reading-what-is-perception/
Pascotto, V. (2018, November 19). The Impact of Perception and Bias on Leadership. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2018/11/19/the-impact-of-perception-and-bias-on-leadership/?sh=18e3a2c210fb.
