A few years ago the Dayton Daily News had an article today about a woman who completed all 2,184 miles of the Appalachian Trail. She did it in parts over several years. 33 miles here, 245 there. She slowly but effectively made progress toward her goal. 

Years ago I  backpacked parts of the trail, mostly in North Carolina and Virginia. I have walked parts of the trail in other states. I enjoy reading about the trail. Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail is a favorite. 

I would like to have walked the entire trail. But I never made it a goal as many people have. And that is the difference in many aspects of life and careers. Goal setting. 

Do you have goals? Do you know where you would like to be in one year, 5 years, ten years? Do you have plans to get there? What do you need to do this year? This month? This week? Today? Do you have your personal goals in writing, typed on your computer, visible on your smartphone? Are they specific? Are they measurable? Are they achievable? At least once a year I set aside time to revisit my goals in various aspects of my work and life. I have a written list and have done this for many years. In my opinion a major key to personal and organizational success at all levels is goal setting. 

I have blogged about pursuing dreams. The backpacker in the DDN story had a dream. She set goals, made plans, took action. She could have failed. But she pursued her dream to the best of her ability and succeeded. The DDN article quoted her:  "A dream is only a dream until you step out and make it a reality." 

Modified from an earlier blog, 9/28/2012

"Appalachian Trail" image by Scott Basford. Attribution: I, Blinute. Used with permission per Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.o
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Have you known people who exude confidence, who seemed to be natural leaders? Sometimes there is just something about a person’s look or behaviors that say this person is a leader.  Perhaps it is the erect posture, or the confident tone of voice, or the way the person looks at you and others directly. Some people look and act confidently. Such people more often move into positions of leadership.

Connson Locke (London School of Economics and Political Science) and Cameron Anderson (University of California, Berkley) wondered how people who appear to be highly confident affect the behavior of others, specifically in decision-making. Does a person who appears to be highly confident “cause others to participate less, or to suppress their own ideas and opinions’ (p. 42). Studies have suggested that people who appear to be highly confident are more likely to be seen as competent -- people who know their stuff --regardless of whether this is true.

In a series of three different experimental studies Locke and Anderson examined this subject, the details of which will not be discussed here. What did they find?

• On decision-making tasks, participants viewed the highly confident person as more competent and participated less.
• Even when the highly confident person had incorrect opinions, participants deferred.
• When highly confident people sought others’ ideas, the participants were more likely to participate, off-setting the effect of perceived competence.

My take-aways:

1.  We often do see people as leaders, or potential leaders, who carry themselves well, speak with confidence, and look at us while talking. We also tend to select and promote these people into positions of power and leadership. Not all perhaps, but many. If we think honestly about it, we may find we have a stereotype of the leader, and it is a stereotype that many others also may have. What are the implications for those of us who do not fit the stereotype?

2.  For the leaders amongst us who appear confident to others, there is an important point here. Recognize you may be perceived as more competent or smarter than you are. You may intimidate others simply by being yourself and suppress participative decision-making. The solution: Genuinely seek others’ opinions and ideas, admitting you do not have all the answers. That is being a leader.

Locke, C. C., & Anderson, C. (2015). The downside of looking like a leader: Power, nonverbal confidence, and participative decision-making. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 58, 42-47.

Image of “Abraham Lincoln” by Alexander Gardner, 1863.  Public domain. This work is in the public domain in the United States, and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less. This file has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights. Obtained from: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Abraham_Lincoln_head_on_shoulders_photo_portrait.jpg

© John Ballard, PhD, 2018. All rights reserved.
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