First Impressions
It’s easy to say that you never get a second chance to create a first impression. But we meet new people every day and so we’re constantly creating first impressions. And when a leader comes to a new organization, he or she has some choices to make about those first impressions.
There’s a temptation to want to create a simple, consistent impression whether it’s “Mr. Nice Guy”, “Someone who fits in with our corporate culture”, “The New Broom” or something else. Such images need, of course, to be authentic and true to the leader’s personality and values or they will quickly be seen through.
I want to suggest, however, that it’s worth bearing in mind a paradox concept for first impressions. Most people (especially leaders of large organizations) tend to have complex personalities. We are both “nice guys” and “tough guys”, conservative and progressive, team players and individualists, etc. We may at any one time use one image and the opposite at another time but both lie within our capabilities.
I am suggesting that new leaders consciously convey all the various sides to their personalities while they’re in the first impressions phase of relating to an organization. This keeps the leader’s options open as to his or her later, more permanent style of leadership and it maintains a level of uncertainty in the organization that the leader can use to advantage in “reading” where other people are positioned.
Brian Tucker,
Principal, The Magi (Organizational Learning and Development)
1 October 2008
