Leadership

Other People's Perceptions of You Are Their Reality

Written by Bahar Sen, Co-Founder | Jan 12, 2026 5:26:56 PM

The other day I was talking to a friend of mine and she told me that she works very hard, she does her best, but people don't appreciate her and even criticize her. Then he complained at length, as if you have to constantly tell people about yourself, what you know, what you think, what you do, why you do it, what you can do.


When I heard this, I stopped and thought about my own experiences, I remembered the times when I was rewarded for my efforts without having to talk about myself. Yes, I have many such experiences. But on the other hand, I also have experiences where I had to tell other people about my thoughts, my intentions, what I did and the impact I had. When I look at my own experiences and the experiences of the people I coach, I think that we are all responsible for how other people perceive us. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not talking about just managing perception by not doing work, not producing anything. What I'm saying is that no one can read the intention in our brains, and everyone comes to a conclusion, a perception, when evaluating events, people, situations, by passing what they see, what they witness, through their own mental filter. From that moment on, this perception becomes their reality. If a person's behavior is perceived in a bad way by other people, that person's shrugging his/her shoulders and acting with the approach of "This is who I am, I act the way I know how, let people think whatever they want" harms the individual, those around him/her, and therefore the companies. That's why I say that
if you want to have a positive impact in your company, if you want to seize the opportunities you want to achieve, you need to consciously influence people's perceptions about you.

Marketing experts know that perception is reality. Likewise, in business, other people's perceptions of you are their reality about you. Whether these perceptions are true or not...

Your manager, colleagues, subordinates and other coworkers have perceptions of you and make decisions based on them every day. What is important here is what these perceptions are like. Are they good or bad? Whatever that perception is, in order to influence and perhaps change it, you first need to be aware of what their perceptions are. If you don't have access to such knowledge, if you don't recognize how people perceive you, it is impossible to manage that perception.

I often witness that the "360-degree feedback" process is an effective method in this sense.I use the 360-degree feedback process in my coaching work with managers and executive teams from many different sectors. This work helps the people I work with to realize other people's current perceptions of them. This feedback helps managers to realize the impact of their behaviors. They also better understand how their "personal and professional skills" as a manager are perceived by other people . When effective coaching is added to the 360 process, managers can clearly see what makes them successful and what skills they can develop to be more effective. They recognize blind spots that, if left unaddressed, can overshadow even the good things they do and possibly derail their careers.

Thanks to the 360 survey and feedback, managers whose self-awareness increases, if they also receive effective coaching at this stage, can take appropriate actions to improve themselves and create their "Next Version" from the 360 feedback. They learn to work more effectively with other people . This enables managers to contribute more seriously to company goals. The manager proactively manages their own behavior and the perceptions of others, creating a positive impact on the people they work with, thereby improving business results. In short, everyone wins in the end.

Do you agree that we have a responsibility to manage other people's perceptions of us? Share your views with us.

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