My Coffee Break #014
When you meet someone in life, work with them, see them among your social surroundings, you often knowingly or unknowingly put a label on that person. It's like that crazy episode of Black Mirror where you create a virtual profile of anyone you come across in life, and then you start rating them! Therefore how you interact with a person is subconsciously influenced by that mental labeling in the first place.
In career, we do the same.
At times it's just a shallow perception created by lack of information. But sometimes, it's a decisive judgment based on our perceived bias.
I learned it the hard way that whether you like it or not, these perceptions matter. It can change your career turning points if you don't act accordingly for any prevailing perceptions of others on you. Sadly, it's how the social system works.
So, how do you deal with these kinds of perceptions that people have of you?
Learn to be more self-aware
Identify your blind spots
Do regular 360-degree peer review
Seek help from a mentor
Course correct and move on
Our attention span these days is so limited that we hardly get to know someone. Hence we fall victim to perception biases easily.
Here's a framework I use to fix my blind spots.