As I was picking out a ripe tomato in my local grocery store, I happened to look up at a man who had just arrived at the tomato bin with his grocery bag. I smiled at him reflexively.
“You have a really nice smile!” He added, “There are not enough kind people in the world anymore.”
Our interaction was short, but later on, it got me thinking about the idea of the “halo effect.”
Psychologist Edward Thorndike coined the term “halo effect” in 1920. It is a cognitive bias where a person’s first impression of you influences their overall perception of other specific traits of yours, leading to more positive judgments. In other words, it means when someone attributes one positive quality to you, they tend to attribute many more.
In particular, a smile’s halo effect can help land a job, close a sale, or motivate others to perform better. In that moment in the grocery store, I had taken no action other than the smile. This man, who was a stranger to me, had interpreted it as a kind gesture, and then made an assumption that I was a kind person. My smile was my halo.
When we communicate, we are received in three ways: our verbal cues, or “what we say;” our vocal cues, or “how we say it;” and our visual cues, or “how we appear,” or show up, in that moment. All of these together can send off cues to another person to indicate how approachable you may be, how positively or negatively you feel about the conversation, or if you are distracted at the moment. But the visual cues usually hold more weight. Had I simply smiled, without looking at the man in the grocery store, his read of the smile might have been different. But, I had smiled “at” him.
As a leader, how you appear to others can have a ripple effect, which can be positive or negative. When the former president of Kimberly-Clark Global Health Care walked across the corporate campus to lunch one day―a 7-minute outdoor walk from her office in the tower across the courtyard to the cafeteria―she had a quick lunch by herself, thinking about her day. When she got back to her office, her assistant asked her what was wrong.
“Nothing is wrong,” she replied. “Why?” Her assistant relayed she had received three phone calls during lunch from people who, when they saw Joanne walking across campus with a frown on her face, were concerned that something was wrong. “I was just thinking,” she said.
Her assistant promptly replied: “Well next time, think with a smile on your face.”
As leaders, we have to understand that it isn’t just what we say, or even how we say it. How we show up in front of others can be impactful, even when we don’t know someone is watching.
If one positive interaction can create a halo effect for you, consider this: what simple actions can you take that can be your halos?
About the Author
Carol Seymour: Global Executive, Speaker, Author and Founder of Signature Leaders
Carol Seymour is a sought-after business leader and seasoned global executive of large and mid-cap size companies and private-equity backed turnarounds.
She founded Signature Leaders in 2013 which focuses on accelerating women into next level leadership and helping leaders create greater impact and influence. Signature Leaders was recognized last year as one of Inc. 5000 “Fastest Growing Private Companies”.
The Signature series of leadership offerings support the growth of women from Manager level up to and including C-suite executives. Today, more than 3000 global leaders across 6 continents have experienced a Signature program. Signature Leaders partners with more than 140 market-leading companies for their selective investments.
Carol is also a Founding Member of Paradigm for Parity and named one of the Top 40 Women Keynote Speakers for 2020 by RealLeaders Magazine.
Carol resides in Cashiers, NC. She has two married children, four granddaughters, and a grandson.
