What impresses a new boss more: attitude or ability? If your answer
is ability, think again. Attitude -- especially a negative one -- might
be the determining factor in your relationship with a new
employer.
"We found that supervisors were able to pick up on negative traits
such as anger, hostility, or instability early in the relationship,"
reports David V. Day, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology at Penn
State. "These traits can destroy a good working relationship almost
before it begins."
Even if a new employee has considerable ability, a negative
attitude is what may stick in the employers mind. And once that first
impression is formed, it's hard to change. "Negative personality traits
make a more powerful and long-lasting impression than positive ones,"
notes Day. "And even the most gifted employees are unlikely to join the
supervisor's inner circle it they are perceived as angry, irritable, or
depressed."
In his study, co-authored with Elona C. Crain, of Tulane
University, undergraduate student "leaders" had to pick who they wanted
to work with in an exercise. Their choices were based both on results
from a mental-ability test and a questionnaire measuring positive and
negative feelings and emotions. The results: the leaders favored good
vibes over big brains.
Can you suppress negative feelings and fool the boss? Attitudes,
especially negative ones, are often revealed through facial expressions
and body language.
Day found that these hard-and-fast first impressions are part of an
effort by the boss to find his own group within the employee pool. The
"in" group gets choice assignments and more flexibility in how they work;
the "outs" are saddled with more structure and drudge-work. This herding
happens quickly -- forget about the three-month probationary period -- and
it's hard to change once you've been branded.
Tags:
ability,
anger hostility,
attitude,
choice assignments,
crain,
david v day,
employee,
employee pool,
good vibes,
inner circle,
language day,
lasting impression,
mental ability test,
negative attitude,
negative traits,
new boss,
personality,
personality traits,
student leaders,
tulane university,
work
