We have heard “don’t judge a book by its cover” but we are innately primed to do so in our interactions with others. Understanding how we perceive faces and how those perceptions can affect hiring, leading, and our workplace interactions is very important. The June 2017 issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science is a special issue devoted to face perception. Here I share information I gleaned from several of the articles.
 
Importance of the face

• “The face is typically the first thing that people notice when encountering another individual.” (Rule, 211)
• “Faces can signal behavioral intentions and internal mental and emotional states.” (Rule, 211)
• “The human face transmits a wealth of signals that readily provide crucial information for social interactions.” (Caldera, 249)
• “No other stimulus conveys such rich information in so finite a space.” (Adams, Albohn, & Kveraga, 243) 

Social categorizing (Rule & Sutherland)

• “Faces contain many informative cues that people use to infer each other’s characteristics, making them arguably the most dominant and fruitful means through which people perceive each other and categorize individuals into groups.” (231)
• “Evidence moreover suggests that perceivers categorize others into social groups unintentionally upon seeing their faces.” (231)
• Big three social categories: age, race, sex
• But we also categorize or make inferences on more subtle characteristics such as sexual orientation.
• “People use the same facial features to stereotype and form prejudiced beliefs about others as they do to categorize them.” (233)
• These categorizations and stereotypes can affect hiring decisions and how people interact.

First impressions (Zebrowitz)

• “Impressions from faces are fast and automatic.” (Zebrowitz, 237)
• First impressions “can lead to inaccurate impressions of people’s psychological traits and has significant social consequences.” (237)
• Four main dimensions of first impressions from facial cues: warmth/trustworthiness & power/dominance
• Impact of perceived central traits: perceive warmness, perceived more positively in spite of negative information; perceive coldness, perceived more negatively.
• People prefer faces “they have seen before” or “similar to previously seen ones.” (238)

Eyes (Adams, Albohn, & Kveraga)

• “Eyes represent the most dynamic and richly informative social stimulus we encounter in our daily lives.” (244)
• “The eyes produce some of the most genuine, dynamic, and socially relevant signals we use to perceive those around us.” (244)
• “We are more sensitive to eye movements than to head movements or postural behaviors.” (244)

Culture (Caldara)

• There are some cultural differences in facial processing, contrary to what social scientists previously thought.
• Westerners (Europe and American cultures): fixate on eye and mouth regions
• Easterners (China, Korea, Japan): more global face processing
• For determining emotions: Westerners, mouth; Easterners: eyes

Leadership (Antonakis & Eubanks)

• “Facial appearance should play a small or a very limited role in observers’ selection of leaders; however, research convincingly shows otherwise.” (270)
• The more distant the potential leader and the less information we have, the more we rely on facial characteristics for judgments about “character and competence.” (270)
• “Appearance plays a significant role in being selected as a leader  . . . and being paid a higher salary.” (272) 

My take-aways:
 
1.  Perceptions based on facial characteristics occur quickly. First impressions may be wrong. Knowing this, we can try to guard against prematurely reaching conclusions. This possible bias underscores the need for objective measures in hiring and promotions.
 
2.  Research suggests there are some cultural differences in how we process facial characteristics. This is useful information not only for interactions in other countries but also at work with people of different ethnicities.
 
3.  This issue suggests that we infer integrity, confidence, and such from facial characteristics, rightly or wrongly. As followers we look to our leaders for these qualities. My guess is perceived facial characteristics will continue to play a role in leader selection, given human nature. However, organizations might be wise to make corrective actions should the selected leader not be able to provide the leadership needed.
 
Adams, R. B., Jr., Albohn, D. N. & Kveraga, K. (2017) Social vision: applying a social-functional approach to face and expression perception. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 26(3), 243-248.
Antonakis, J., & Eubanks, D. L. (2017) Looking leadership in the face. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 26(3), 270-275.
Caldara, R. (2017) Culture reveals a flexible system for face processing. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 26(3), 249-255. 
Rule, N. O. (2017) Introduction to the special issue on face perception. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 26(3), 211.
Rule, N. O., & Sutherland, S. L. (2017) Social categorization from faces: evidence from obvious and ambiguous groups. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 26(3), 231-236.
Zebrowitz, L. A. (2017) First impressions from faces. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 26(3), 237-242.
 
Image, “Luther Ballard,” from my collection of family photos.
 
© John Ballard, PhD,  2017. All rights reserved.
 
Author, Decoding the Workplace, BEST CAREER BOOK Next Generation Indie Book Awards 2016.
Please visit www.decodingtheworkplace.com.

Great leadership can be the catalyst to great success. In the National Basketball Association, the Golden State Warriors have earned the NBA Championship two of the past three years. Last year LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers demonstrated incredible leadership in rallying his team down 3 games to 1 to defeat the Warriors 4-3. But Steve Kerr, head coach of the Warriors, exemplifies the characteristics of leadership that could elevate the performance of many organizations.
 
Kerr was absent during most of the championship playoffs due to his recovering from back surgery. But as Chris Ballard (no relation) wrote in the May 29 issue of Sports Illustrated, “No Coach, No Problem.” Ballard’s article provided insight into Kerr’s leadership style, illuminating characteristics of outstanding leaders:

• Respect. Great leaders earn respect and respect others. Players and other coaches respect Coach Kerr highly.
• It’s not about you. When you make a moment about you and not the team or the organization, you start to lose them. It is always about them, about those you lead. Kerr allowed Sports Illustrated only one photo of himself.
• Humility and compassion. Kerr: “The people to me who are the most powerful leaders are the ones who have great talent in whatever their field is, great conviction in their ability to teach it and act it, but an awareness and a humility and compassion for others” (p. 30)
• Nurture freedom, build trust. Coach Kerr has built a culture where players are participants willing to share ideas. It’s not “my way or the highway” but the opposite. The players trust each other and the coaches and vice versa.
• Empower. Kerr’s leadership is highly participative, not hierarchical. Regardless of minutes played, every player is part of the process, the flow, and ready to step up when called.
• Grit. Out of high school Kerr only had one scholarship to a major college basketball program. Ballard noted that as an NBA player for 15 seasons, Kerr only started 30 games. Success goes to those who persevere.
• Communicate. Kerr has conversations with players where as he puts it, he may “overcommunicate” and sometimes he writes notes to players. Players know where they stand; what they need to do to improve.
• Know your people. Warrior player Draymond Green: “he knows me . . . That’s his thing. He has this feel for exactly what each player needs” (p.32).
• Perspective: Kerr: “Take things seriously, but not yourself.”
• Live your core values: Kerr: “What I learned from all the coaches I talked to was that your entire process has to reflect your core values” (p. 34). Kerr’s core values: joy, competition, compassion, mindfulness.

Chris Ballard summed up Kerr’s leadership as follows: "You want to lead like Kerr? Just be humble and grateful, curious and self-aware. Communicate, value family and empower others. When bad things happen, keep a broader perspective. Most of all, create something bigger than yourself  . . .  the real test of a leader is what happens once they leave” (p. 35).
 
My take-aways:
 
1. A great article with good insights for all who choose to lead. My opinion is that allowing your core values to be reflected in your work may be problematic in some organizations. If your core values as a leader do not align with the core values of the organization, then living those core values may be tough. It happens. Sometimes the core values of an organization are not the espoused values.
 
2.  Organizational culture is key. Trust is bedrock for a healthy culture. Kerr trusts and listens. Show me a culture where there are high levels of trust, I expect to see a successful organization with engaged employees. Show me a culture where there are low levels of trust, I expect disengaged employees. Trust starts at the top.
 
3. I really like Chris Ballard’s summary of how to lead like Steve Kerr. Kerr learned much from Gregg Popovich, President and Head Coach of the San Antonio Spurs. Kerr and Popovich are great leaders from whom many can learn.

Ballard, C. (2017, May 29). "No coach, no problem." Sports Illustrated, 126 (15), 28-35. 
 
Image, “Steve Kerr,” by Keith Allison.
Retrieved from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Steve_Kerr_(16453076458)_cropped.jpg
Used with  permission:  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en 

© John Ballard, PhD,  2017. All rights reserved.
 
I am very grateful to Coach Popovich for endorsing my book Decoding the Workplace, BEST CAREER BOOK Next Generation Indie Book Awards 2016.
Please visit www.decodingtheworkplace.com.