Performance is critical, but Perception is equally important. Focus on performance, but don't ignore perception. Don't fall into the Perception Gap.
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"My work should speak for itself. I'm not willing to market myself or suck up to anyone for the sake of getting a promotion."
Abdul had been in the same role for about 6 years, while some of his colleagues had been promoted faster.
He hated that he had to meet me - an Executive Coach, to discuss how he could manage his career better (his brother had pushed him to).
It felt wrong - like he was going against his core beliefs:
- Good performance speaks for itself
- Self-promotion is the refuge of non-performers
Abdul had fallen into the perception gap.
Perception is important.
It is important that people who work with you, especially those whose decisions affect your career, are aware of what you are doing.
If people are not aware of the work you are doing, the difference you are making, the impact you are creating, they will draw their own conclusions. Which may not always be favourable to you.
When this happens, your perceived impact is different than the actual impact you are creating. This is the perception gap.
Sometimes the perception gap can work in your favour - i.e your contribution is perceived to be of higher value than it really is. This is rare, and usually short-lived.
More often, the perception gap works against you. You contribution is perceived to be less valuable than it actually is.
This reflects in the opinion others hold of you, and the decisions they take that are likely to impact you.
In Abdul's case, and for many other diligent and conscientious employees, the perception gap can come in the way of being recognised and rewarded for their work.
It can also stop you from getting promoted.
It is therefore in your own interest, to shape people's perception - to ensure the perception gap is not very wide
Performance does not always speak for itself
In theory, your performance should speak for itself. This was and continues to be true when the work has a visible and tangible output.
If you were a craftsman producing carved wooden figurines, your output - both quality and volume could be accurately measured and would provide a good estimate of your performance.
What if you were working on a car manufacturing assembly line? It's a bit more difficult, because your performance is determined by the performance of others - upstream and downstream to you. But, in principle output would still be a good indicator of your performance.
However, that isn't always the case.
Performance isn't always the same as Output
Continuing with the car assembly line example. What if you were a quality control inspector? Is your contribution zero if there were no defects in the entire shift? Are you contributing less if you found a lot of quality problems? How exactly should your contribution be measured?
What if you were a programmer working on the embedded software found in modern cars? Should you only be assessed for timely completion, or does it count when you discover and fix bugs? The deployment might be delayed, but you potentially saved the company thousands or millions of dollars from performance problems and claims.
The difficulty in assessing your performance increases as output becomes less concrete, not directly measurable, and your contribution is only a part of the total effort required.
Shaping Perception is critical in large organisations
"Shouldn't my manager know? Isn't he supposed to?" I hear Abdul protesting.
Sure. But in today's world of massive projects, huge project teams, super specialisation of skills, it pays to make sure your key stakeholders are aware of your contribution.
In large organisations, when it comes to getting promoted, the decisions are often taken by committee, and many of the decision makers may not know you or your contribution.
Unless you make the effort to help your manager understand and articulate your case well.
Unless others, independent of your manager or line, can corroborate that you deserve to be promoted
Unless you have a group of people rooting for you as advocates, sponsors, or evangelists.
Performance matters, so does Perception
All this is not to say that you can ignore performance and focus only on shaping perception.
Performance is important. Even critical.
However, perception is equally important. Especially, if your output is not concrete, your contribution not directly measurable, and you work in projects and organisations where the number of contributors is large.
Continue focusing on performance. Don't ignore perception.
Have you ever fallen into the Perception trap?
Credits: Image courtesy Stencil
