Leaders Must Focus on Sustained Impressions

(image credit)

(image credit)

The article is The Best Leaders Make Unforgettable First Impressions, and Forbes contributor Glenn Llopis runs down 14 things that you can do to be unforgettable.

These things sound well and good, but I am skeptical.  

There seems to be an overemphasis among some of us on those previous first few seconds to grab attention, to forge a relationship, or to ensure an impact.  The fact is, you can be the best of leaders, and follow every bit of advice from Llopis, and still lend absolutely no impression on others.  It's such a crowded space out there, it seems, that more people are clamoring to be noticed than to truly notice, look or listen.  

At the end of the day, the irony behind the advice that Llopis gives is that it is less about the first impression, and more about the sustained impression you lend with people.  If you are in fact going to be their leader, their lasting take on you is less what you do on a one-off or occasional basis, and more on the nature, the pattern, and the characteristic of the interactions, and consequently the relationships, between you and them.