Confessions of an HR consultant - first impressions

Spent an excellent morning interviewing employees at a successful recruitment consultancy. This was topped by the enthusiastic MD’s lunchtime feedback. “Oh, everyone is really enjoying being interviewed by you.” “Yes,” I thought, “that’s because I’m a brilliant and relaxing interviewer with a skilled forensic brain.” Unfortunately, the MD continued, “Sally really enjoyed it. She came out and announced to the office, ‘That was fun, I’ve just been interviewed by someone who looks like Fred West.’” Such a revelation of what people were really thinking when I interviewed them set me wondering anew at humankind’s potential for self delusion. This ability appears particularly pronounced when people find themselves in a position of power. As Lord Acton once said, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.” The danger of which Lord Acton speaks was well recognised during the Roman Empire. Apparently, to maintain humility, a slave would be employed to stand at the shoulder of an all-conquering Roman general as he led his victorious centurions through the streets of Rome, and whisper: “You are a mere mortal.”