Recently, I noticed something about certain leaders that made me realise how quickly we form opinions about people.  We are quick to categorise them as “He is not strategic,” “She doesn’t take enough initiative,” “He is very dependable,” “She is definitely leadership material.”

Anyone who has managed people for long enough has probably made similar judgements.  My experience is that while these are not necessarily incorrect they are often based on specific incidents rather than solid evidence.

This is particularly problematic in organisations like many I have encountered in Pakistan, where reputations can become incredibly sticky. People are labelled early in their careers and those labels stick.

The problem is what happens afterwards. Once I decide someone is not strategic, I start noticing every instance when they get lost in operational detail, missing the few times that they do ask thoughtful questions about the bigger picture. Conversely, with people we consider stars, we explain away mistakes because they do not fit our preconceptions. These are all examples of confirmation bias!

The bigger issue is that our beliefs about people eventually shape how we manage them. If I think someone lacks judgement, I scrutinise their work more closely, give them less discretion and make more decisions for them.

Eventually, they stop making decisions themselves, and I look at them and say, “See? I was right. This person lacks decision making”  Except perhaps I helped create the behaviour I am now observing!

I believe one of leadership’s responsibilities is to keep reassessing people rather than permanently categorising them.

People learn, mature and evolve, and their confidence fluctuates with time and circumstances.  Different situations reveal different strengths and weaknesses.  Of course, if they are unwilling to acknowledge their weaknesses and do not want to learn and improve, it becomes a completely different situation where the individual is solely responsible.

But before we reach that conclusion, perhaps every once in a while, a leader should look at someone they think they know well and ask, “What if I am wrong about this person?”

We might notice something we have stopped looking for a long time ago.