I Don't Cut My Own Hair

Have you ever thought of yourself as a coach?  It may surprise you that we all should! Each day we coach others whether we admit it or even realize it.

Hey, I am not an expert in EVERYTHING!  I can’t be, so I surround myself with those who are. I don’t “cut my own hair” or “cut my own grass.” These are NOT my fields of expertise! Not even close! However, I have been in marketing research for 26 years here at Sparks Research and a Fitness Coach for over 30 years. I still do not know it all, but I am constantly seeking knowledge in both fields AND surrounding myself within my fields of “expertise” with other “experts”.

I do not teach “BARRE” and I do not “Run tabulation” or “Calculate weights.” (At my fitness studio I do some different weight calculating, but that is for another day and another conversation!)

So why do companies who ARE NOT experts in data collection and data literacy attempt to collect and analyze their own data? It is just not smart. Do you cut your own hair?

Hmmm - You don’t have to hire Sparks Research BUT you must hire a Marketing research firm, “the experts!” Of course, you can always consult Sparks Research because... “The Answers Are Here.” I know a shameless plug - right!?

Cheers to being a coach in your field and to hiring and surrounding yourself with other field experts!

Putting Your Best Face Forward

Is this image distracting to you?

I have experienced a situation where a potential candidate for hire had on make-up very similar to this, possibly worse.  Now to be straight, there were many other things that went wrong with this interview! However, the distraction of such an overzealous make-up job created a situation in which it made it hard for me to concentrate on what really mattered; could this individual perform the necessary tasks to be successful in the position for which she was applying?

No matter how “fun loving” or carefree your personality is, this is not the first impression to make with a potential employer. If this is your inside self, mimicking art on the outside of your body (or your face) and you are someone walking down the sidewalk, I have no issue with you or your appearance and would likely find you to be an awesome individual. On the other hand, if I only have 15 to 20 minutes to spend with you in a workplace atmosphere in person or on a video conference in which we’ll be discussing pay rates, job duties, abilities, etc., I do not have time to parse the mental overload that such a distraction creates, in order to figure out if you’re just fun-loving, carefree, or artsy, instead of disturbed and full of drama. I need to find out all I can in a brief discussion and that is hard in any circumstance.  Now with Zoom and Teams as a “new” interviewing method there are even more distractions.  Am I on mute?  Oh my gosh does my hair really look like that?  Can she see that I have on bedroom slippers?  (and on and on)

Moving on, does this mean that people with face tattoos or ear gauges distract me, too? Honestly, the answer is no.  I am seasoned and feel I am really good at looking beyond the outside so I can get right to the meat of whether or not this person has all the skills necessary for the job at hand. Afterall, this is what I do!

So, I ask myself, “Why am I having such a hard time seeing the workplace potential of this one person?” Is it because of my own bias that she is wearing too much makeup? I have no clue, but I do know we all have our own personal biases whether we want to admit it or not. We can consider ourselves PC, cool, or unique, but somewhere, lurking in each of us is something distracting. We might not even know what it is in ourselves. I do know all I could think of during this job interview was that this candidate for hire should probably be auditioning to appear in Pagliacci instead of interviewing for this job position.

So, what is the purpose of this whole story?

For that one instance, when you are about to interview (if you are a person who likes to express yourself outwardly) take that one moment to express your desire for the job in which you are applying more. This is the long-winded version of simply a reminder - if you want, or even need a job bad enough, try to show that on the outside. I promise you won’t be considered a sellout. You may, however, be able to afford more make-up to continue expressing yourself once you get the job.

Fast is Best

Remember the old tale of the “Tortoise and the Hare”?

Many times we are Hare like - now, now, now, fast, fast, fast! If we recall the story, we know how that ended for the Rabbit!

In this new world of technology we can get most items quick quick. Even big ticket items appear at our doorstep in 2ish days. BUT real results are not made in the microwave, they take time.
And because we are impatient, and used to 2ish days as a timeframe, we sometimes don’t want to take our time.

In the Fitness world we always say, “you’ll start seeing results in around 6 weeks, BUT you have to do your part outside of the gym too.” This means homework.

This same homework applies to creating a successful research study that will yield results that are meaningful and usable. Planning and execution take time and homework. And we aren’t talking about microwave time.

Research Study Questions to ponder...

1 - What do you want to know? What are your goals?

2 - Are you willing to do your homework on the front so your end result will be satisfying and applicable?

3 - Will you take time to loop around after you get started to modify and adjust where necessary?

Remember we have allotted time since we are not “microwaving.” We can add ingredients or take some away midway because we have not burned or scorched our timeframe!

Slow down, loop back, modify and adjust to get our end result as close to perfect as a slow cooked customized homemade meal.

Nothing worth having is fast or easy! However, with planning, homework and adjustments we sure will come close!