I was waiting for last 45 min to meet someone senior at a client’s place. The front office desk lady expressed her regret at least ten times for the delay. That’s what made me think twice before leaving and deciding to meet that gentleman who could recruit or train someone who could empathize with my rising level of impatience. This is what many of the CXOs should decide today when recruiting their PS/PA. How the first impression is created about the culture of the organisation. Culture is becoming a phenomena today but more focus is put on something else but not to this so called front office staff and that actually creates the first impression of the organization.

However there is more to this “Impression”?  Recently was talking to someone who works in an organization which happens to be my competitor in business front. He was little upset that in spite of doing good in the works assigned to him, his superior is not having a good impression about him and thus has to face challenges in his work front. That discussion prompted me to write a few lines today.

What is Impression? When someone expresses with words like “I am impressed with your work”, can we say I have created a good impression on him? Or is it beyond that small temporary periphery of that task only?

To me, in a simple words, Impression is very very relative, a perception which does not have any proven science behind but just an illusion. As per Cambridge Dictionary, Impression is an idea, feeling, or opinion about something or someone, especially one formed without conscious thought or on the basis of little evidence. And thus its quite evident, impression is just a perception formed by one about another just with some set personal benchmarks that the person feels is right. On the other hand, it also gives birth to an attitude of resistance to change where the person forming an impression about another person does not put himself on the other’s shoe but goes by his own thinking only.

If we go further, it can be said, the process of forming a negative impression starts from the time a person stops seeing his mirror image in the other guy and thus, if he finds him knowing more than him, dressing better than him, talking better than him, he sometimes creates an impression that the other guy shows off too much or sometimes he goes into a complex zone and form different kind of impression or opinion and and vice versa. Again for some, process of forming impression limits to just a few materialistic objects like how he dresses, how he is groomed etc and there also a try to find the mirror image exists.  And this may be the reason, the same person whose impression is excellent with someone is not so with another.

In my view, there has to be defined process of forming impression at least in worklife since lack of a defined process makes people start losing self confidence as was happening with my friend. There should not by anything called good impression or bad impression but set of defined “Desired Attributes” on the basis of which a person should be interviewed, inducted and evaluated apart from his measurable knowledge and outputs. These “Desired Attributes” may differ organization to organization but basic principle should be well defined where possible levy should come in areas like accent, body language, cast, religion, the way he speaks, dresses etc since no two people are same in this earth and expecting the exact copy cat version is impossible. And this will help the organization to attract, retain and develop talents rather than getting some mirror images of some individuals.

Also, “Impression” is an outcome of some chain of words in a sequential manner like “Upbringing” which gives birth to “Personal Traits” that forms “Attitude” which then reflects in “Behaviour” which creates an “Impact” to finally form an “Impression” and thus it is more important to define the “Desired Attributes” considering all these so as to get the right people on board to keep the flag of that organization flying high and not just to create some more copy cats of some individuals.