Personal Visibility – The Power of You!

Let’s be honest, we’ve all made snap judgments about others and plenty have been made about us––that’s just the way it is. Maybe it was the shirt the person was wearing, the car they drove or just the sound of their voice. Maybe it was the way an email was worded or the tone in a voice mail. It could have been their walk, a weird hairdo or some quirky mannerism. Isn’t it funny how we can take one small thing and overlay a complete persona? We all do it. And the scary part: it often sticks and in some cases we become a broadcaster and proliferate an opinion based on our limited if not single interaction with a person. “She must be a bitch.” “I bet he’s a real asshole to work for!” “What a nerd.” All based on a snap judgment, formed in the instant, without deliberation. How many times have you thought one thing and then had an opportunity to really get to know someone only to learn just how wrong you were?

Getting to know someone adds context to who they really are. Person-to-person interaction often allows for a familiarity and nearness that reminds us of a lesson we were taught as children and yet most of us have a reasonably difficult time following: “Never judge a book by its cover“. In today’s digital environment, one that includes a new social media platform almost daily, person-to-person contact continues to give way to the efficiency of online interaction. That means your ability to add “context” to who you are is getting more difficult and that’s not going to change. As a matter of fact, it’s going to get more and more challenging and that’s why its so important that you take charge of your virtual persona, control the narrative about yourself and work diligently to add personal context for your burgeoning network of colleagues. You can influence that all important first impression, even if it is occurring online!

Count on this: If someone is scheduled to have a first meeting with you, they will likely check you out on LinkedIn, Google your name, peek at your Facebook page, glance at your Twitter posts and browse through your Instagram pictures––all in an effort to develop a little advance intel and advantage prior to the meeting. They might even enter your name into Spokeo for some additional color. In the process, they will form an opinion about you and if they’re wrong, you may have to work extra hard to recover from a bad first impression––that’s how it works! 

Don’t be a victim!