President's Perspective - January Voice 2023

Perception is reality

Believing in our better selves in 2023

My birthday is December 7. As a kid, I spent a good amount of time complaining to my mom that my birthday takes longer to get to than anyone else’s. She tried to help me understand that everyone’s birthday takes 364 days to arrive, but I was unconvinced. I even used the calendar to serve as my very own visual aide—it took TWELVE flips to get to my calendar page and only SIX and FOUR to get to my brother’s and sister’s, respectively.

While I’ve grown and logically understand that she was right, there is a small part of me that still feels that my birthday takes longer than anyone else’s to arrive. In a world that’s so driven by specific sets of time (work weeks, calendar year, fiscal year, etc.), the perception is that my birthday takes longer than my springborn sister’s. And, for me, that perception is my reality, as illogical as it may be.

We are surrounded by perceptions that cloud, or completely over shadow, our actual reality. Starting a new year, there’s a perception that New Year’s resolutions only work if you commit 100% from day

one—no misses, no mess ups, no failure. If you happen to miss a morning workout one random Tuesday in mid-January, your entire “work out five days a week in 2023” is shot to hell. In reality, the intent of the goal probably can withstand a miss here or there. Our perception is that we might as well give it all up—we failed the goal.

And then? Perception becomes realty. We slowly stop working out entirely, because if we can’t do it all, we might as well sit back and eat chips.

As leaders, we owe it to ourselves, our companies and our employees to examine the perceptions and realities in our daily work and lives. How often do we let perceptions take over our realities? This is a question I’m asking myself as I reflect on my first months as Chamber president and plan for my first full year.

The perception that I will be fully available to my staff 24/7 is unreasonable for any leader. And yet, it’s one I very quickly started giving life to. Answering emails while on vacation, at 2 a.m. while dealing with a bout of insomnia, or at 8 p.m. while spending time with my husband or kids creates a reality that I am always available.

A healthy leader sets and communicates clear boundaries that identify preferred communication practices. I can certainly be that healthy leader, and I would be happier for it! But I let my own perception that a “good” leader is constantly available create a reality that I begrudge. No one wins when I’m resentful. No one wants to hear from me at 2 a.m. It’s not cool to be always on the clock, and it certainly doesn’t create a culture I’m proud of for others. But I created a perception that quickly became reality because I didn’t take the time to be intentional from the beginning.

Rockford is full of perceptions that seep into our realities. We have this weird notion that we are somehow “less than.” We have this idea that we can’t be a place that attracts top-level talent. And we’re shocked when we meet new residents who gladly chose to move to Rockford.

Of those that complain the loudest about our great city, most are natives or long-timers. What if we harnessed the idea that perception is reality and started perceiving ourselves right into prosperity. I understand simply saying it doesn’t make it so, but there does seem to be some magic about just believing something to be true. Our perceptions inform our realities, our actions, our belief systems and our leadership. In 2023, let’s raise the bar on our perceptions and watch our realities fall into place.