Who am I?
Am I who I am, or am I who you think I am?
When it comes to making business decisions, systems, and critical thinking are non-negotiable.
We begin by mapping out the system, collecting facts and figures from as many sources as possible. We require information from retail audits, e-commerce insights, shopper/ consumer behavior, brand tracking, social media trends, economic data, and market trends, just to name a few. Our goal is to create a holistic picture where all data points are interconnected.
We then challenge our team to bring the most relevant, up-to-date, and reliable data to the table. If budget allows, we prefer to use primary data from top-tier research firms, we barely look at secondary data because we want the most accurate figures to generate insights and gain foresight into consumer and market behavior. And yet, despite our efforts, we all know that sometimes, all these data are not enough to guarantee the best decision. Some initiatives still fail in the market.
That is business. That is what we are doing, like experts in everyday leadership.
But what do we do when it comes to evaluating people? The most common term we hear is Intuition or “gut-feeling” – we trust our own intuition.
But what is intuition, really? Have you ever challenged what shapes your intuition?
Before a new line manager, teammate, or business partner joins our team, our ears are filled with pieces of information spreading from person to person, without solid evidence or facts. Those conversations are entertaining, which makes us forget to check the reliability of the data sources, not to mention the context and the time when they were collected.
Some of us have a habit of turning to social media to “understand” someone. The photos, posts, and achievements are enough to put people in certain categories.
Others take pride in their ability to “see through” people within moments of meeting them. They say “People always behave exactly how I see them the first time we meet”.
….
Unlike making business decisions, we are so sure of our judgment about others. Once we make a conclusion, almost no one can convince us to change our view.
But… have you ever noticed…
We don’t see people in all their aspects of life. We only know our teammates in the corporate context, through a few projects we work on together.
We only “know” our Facebook friends at the moment they choose to show us online.
Most interestingly, people appear differently depending on our moods. When we are happy, everyone seems joyful. When we are compassionate, everyone suddenly becomes kinder. When we are in a bad mood, the world becomes gray, filled with irritating and hateful people. When we feel fearful, anyone could become a rival with bad intentions towards us.
So, do we see people as they truly are?
Or do we see people as we want them to be?
Thao Pham
ICF Professional Certified Coach
Executive & Corporate Well-being Coach