Perception – What It Is & How It Works

Perception is one of those things we hear a lot, but often know very little about.

So what’s the truth about perception?

Perception is crucial to understand because it often plays an important role in our decision-making process.

What is Perception?

Very simply, perception is how we feel about things we interact with every single day. It is how we interpret the world, events and people around us.

What are some of those things?

Those things could be people; i.e., co-workers, family, friends; events like celebrations, holidays, weddings, birthdays. Even objects like money, cars, workplaces. And we can’t leave out occurrences. When things happen, perception is there to guide us in how we should feel about what happened.

How does perception work?

 Perception begins through a process called Selective Attention, which means it – perception – tells us which things are important and deserve our attention. An example could be your email inbox. You know how we run through it and almost automatically delete certain emails and plan to come back to others? That’s actually your perception working for you. You perceive which ones are important.

Have you ever deleted one and wish you hadn’t? I know I have on more than a few occasions.

After perception tells you what should get your attention, it then provides you with a memory called an emotional marker, which tells you how you ought to feel about your encounter. Is this person someone you should pay close attention to? Is this a good thing that happened or a bad thing? Perception reaches into your memories and provides you with a guide.

How powerful is our perception?

Your perception is as powerful as you allow it to be. We give power to our perception through a lack of awareness and knowledge. In other words, if you are not aware that it is in play, you just might take that memory it gives you and run with it in making your decision about that person or thing. The problem is, of course, the information your memory provides may well be out-of-date or just plain wrong. You may have matured to a new place today than you were when that memory was made. You may have learned some new things.

Leaders have many decisions to make. Whether you are trying to lead on the job, your family, a volunteer organization, or even yourself, you absolutely must be aware of the influence of your perception if you want to make the best decisions.

Smart Leaders take the time to discern between perception and current reality, and they’re not afraid to admit to themselves that they are believing something which is not true.