Judging Others

Judging Others

An awareness and understanding of how others are reacting is an important part of leadership. Becoming a better judge of others allows leaders to quickly assess which individuals understand their direction, which individuals need more clarification, and which individuals are resisting. This ability allows the leader to focus their attention to where it is needed and to anticipate problems.

But Isn’t Judging Others a Bad Thing?

Judging others is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, as your understanding of it grows you will see that it is actually a very good thing…when used properly. It is only when one allows their personal beliefs and biases to overly influence their perceptions, judgments, and ultimately their actions does judging others become detrimental. To avoid this judgments should be based on observations and not solely on feelings or first impressions.

An Example of Judging Others

An important part of recognizing and understanding individual’s reactions is assessing their personality and mood. Identifying key elements of an individual’s personality or recognizing someone’s mood allows a leader to foresee certain problems or interpret reactions faster. Consider the following example.

David, the President of the Mt. Pleasant Biking Association, is going over the details of their upcoming fundraiser with the Treasurer, Anna, and the Secretary, Tom. As David begins to go into the specifics outlined by the University’s policies on fundraising and the correct procedures to follow he notices that Tom is nodding along, smiling, and making lots of eye contact. These are all things that indicate to David that Tom is following along and understands the specifics. However, let’s say that Tom is just a really nice guy and wants to get along with everyone and doesn’t want to make any waves. In addition, Tom wants those around him to like him and is constantly seeking out their approval. If David is able to recognize these traits in Tom he might question the meaning of Tom’s behavior. Is Tom nodding along because he understands and he is ready to get started? Or is Tom nodding because that is what Tom does even if he doesn’t understand?

Accurate Judgments

In understanding individual’s reactions we can look at Funder’s (1995) Realistic Accuracy Model. This model can be used to gain a more accurate understanding of individual’s reactions, mood, or personality. Key to this model are four features. The first two are outside of the leader’s control, but necessary to making accurate judgments. The second two are the steps that leaders need to learn and practice to increase the accuracy of social perceptiveness.

First, the individual under observation must do something relevant to their reaction. For example, if Anna disagrees with something that David says she may start to frown.
Second, this information must be available to the leader. If Anna waits to frown until David leaves he will have nothing to indicate what her reaction might be. As mentioned before, steps 1 and 2 are outside of the leader’s control and deal with the environment.
Third, the leader must detect this information. David has to pay attention to both Anna and Tom to make sure that they are understanding him and understanding the necessity of following University protocol. If David is staring down at his outline as he talks he may very well miss Anna’s frown although it occurred right in front of him.
Finally, leaders must be able to utilize the information correctly. In detecting Anna’s frown David must connect it to what he is talking about to indicate that Anna may be disagreeing with what he is saying. If David sees the frown but fails to use the information that it provides him he will be unable to foresee Anna’s later reaction.

What to do next?

Leader’s can directly utilize Funder’s model to become a better judge of others.

Communicate with others often; examine not just what they say but how they say it.
Be aware that communication is not done through words alone; there are many cues to help us interpret what others are trying to tell us or keep from us.
In face-to-face communication watch the individuals that you are talking to or with.
For telephone and email communication watch for other cues that may indicate the individual’s feelings or understanding.
Pay attention to the details. Don’t notice these interpersonal cues and then fail to use them. Its up to you to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
Be an active judge of others in all situations whether your just talking about the whether or receiving a report form a subordinate.
The better you know someone and the more you put into your relationships the easier and more accurate your judgments of that person becomes.

There are also some things leaders should watch out for.

Not all judgments are accurate.
Even if you have known someone for a while you can still interpret a cue wrongly.
Do not form concrete, inflexible judgments. Our understanding of others should change to reflect all the information we have.
Follow up your judgments by talking with others, especially the person you’re judging.
Finally, try not to rely on judgments alone to make important decisions.

Competencies Related to Judging Others

Communicating with Coworkers:
Communicating information using either face-to-face, written, or via telephone or computer.

Active Listening:
Listening intently to what others are saying and asking for further details when appropriate.

Nurturing Relationships:
Building positive and cooperative working relationships with others. Maintaining relationships over time.

Psychological Knowledge:
Knowledge of human behavior, mental processes, and individual and group performance.

Social Orientation:
Being comfortable interacting and working with others.

Social Perceptiveness:
Awareness and understanding of how and why others are reacting the way they are.

Assessing Others:
Evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of others’ efforts at learning or performing tasks.

Managing the Future:
Evaluating future directions and risks based on current and future strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

References

Funder, D.C. (1995). On the accuracy of personality judgment: A realistic approach. Psychological Review, 10, 652-670.