Page 215 - Just Promoted A 12 Month Road Map for Success in Your New Leadership Role

200 Just Promoted!

ing. The key is for many in the organization to feel the ability to influence pos-
itive change and work with others to achieve it.
We’ve written about the effect the feeling of powerlessness has on an organ-
ization. Typically, each person feels someone else holds the power to change
things. Even the leader may feel that middle managers, or even the workforce
itself, holds the real power to change things.
Depression is a feeling of hopelessness. Nothing is fun or interesting any-
more. We hate to get out of bed, to start the day, to go to bed. There is no
energy, drive, or enthusiasm. Organizations, like the people within them, can
experience depression. It is the hopelessness engendered by a feeling that noth-
ing really makes any difference and nothing can get better.
Organizational depression is caused by a feeling of powerlessness. When
we feel no individual or group has the ability to affect conditions, a gloom can
easily descend over the organization. With power there is hope. Without power
the workforce slides into depression. Organizations need people who take ini-
tiative, and initiative must be recognized, appreciated, and rewarded.

9. Selective perception. Simply stated, perceiving is believing. Perception
gives personal meaning to what we experience. People filter the events around
them through the selective screens of their needs and values. They will see and
hear what they are predisposed to perceive, and they will believe their per-
ceptions. It has been said that whenever two people interact, there are seem-
ingly six people present:

■ Each person as he or she sees herself or himself
■ Each person as he or she views the other and the events around
himself or herself
■ Each person as he or she really is

As a force acting against change or growth, selective perception can be crit-
ical since people see what they want to see and what agrees with their per-
ceptions. If people in your organization believe something, they will act as if
it is true, whether or not it is actually true. You must deal with what is per-
ceived to be true, not just with the objective truth.
A key to your success will be your ability to create a common perception
of the organization’s needs and its future. It will do you little good to reassure
yourself that the group’s perceptions of what exists are not accurate. People