Make Sure Your Hairstyle Works for You

• 00:05 Now it's time to talk about something even more personal, your hair.
• 00:10 Now you may be thinking, why would I listen to this guy talk about hair?
• 00:15 He doesn't have, look folks, it's not about having a perfect head of hair.
• 00:18 But when people see you in business situations, speeches, presentations, and
• 00:23 meetings, the media, quite often it's the hair that they see first that jumps out.
• 00:29 Now, everybody has something on this, even if it's shaved or
• 00:31 if they don't have a single hair left.
• 00:33 There's something up there that is noticeable for people.
• 00:37 So, it's critical that you give some thought
• 00:40 to the message it's sending because everything sends a particular message.
• 00:46 Obviously, not everyone has to have the same hairstyle,
• 00:49 there's not a set business hairstyle.
• 00:53 It's all about what business you're in, who you are, and
• 00:58 what you want people to focus on.
• 01:00 So for example, I'm over 50 and I don't have much hair.
• 01:06 So I got a few choices.
• 01:08 I could just shave it all off, and that's been advised.
• 01:11 I could grow it out really long and have a comb over, but
• 01:15 that would have implications and I would become an object of ridicule.
• 01:19 I could have a wig or a toupee and sometimes that can work, but
• 01:24 a lot of times it's easy to spot and trick people and it's very high maintenance.
• 01:30 So I do what I think is the best in my situation, is I just cut it really short.
• 01:35 Not because I'm trying to fool anyone or trick anyone,
• 01:38 it's just that I don't want them to focus on my hair.
• 01:41 I want them to focus on what I'm saying, my face.
• 01:45 And that is my advice to you.
• 01:46 I need you to give some thought to who you are, what you're about,
• 01:51 and the message you wanna send with your hair.
• 01:54 So for example, I have clients who are hair colorists.
• 01:58 Well, they're all about interesting colors for hair.
• 02:01 And so they quite often might have purple hair or
• 02:05 interesting mixes of reds and browns.
• 02:08 That's perfectly appropriate for their profession.
• 02:12 On the other hand, I have clients who are value fund, mutual fund managers.
• 02:18 By and large a conservative industry and the clients,
• 02:22 the investors want someone who's fairly conservative managing their money,
• 02:26 even if they aren't personally conservative.
• 02:28 So in that case short hair for men, a conservative style for women.
• 02:35 Those are the main things you're looking for if you're in a conservative industry.
• 02:38 Now, if you are a modern impressionistic artist, for example,
• 02:43 you wouldn't want a very specific slicked-back,
• 02:48 strong part, looking like you're trying to be a 1980s investment banker.
• 02:53 You have to really think about what is the message your hair is sending?
• 02:59 Now, the problem a lot of people have is they have less than perfect hair,
• 03:03 they try to conceal it.
• 03:05 You see this comically referenced in TV shows and movies, with men especially,
• 03:11 wearing bad toupees, and in that case the solution is worse than the problem.
• 03:17 You look at someone like Donald Trump,
• 03:19 the sheer amount of attention given to his hair.
• 03:22 You have to ask yourself, is it worth it?
• 03:25 There are some cultural differences with respect to sexes.
• 03:28 In my experience I have found that it is generally considered more acceptable for
• 03:33 a woman to wear a wig or a hair enhancement than a man.
• 03:38 The woman is less likely to be ridiculed.
• 03:40 Now, in other situations, in fact, probably the majority of situations with
• 03:44 body language and dress, women are at a disadvantage relative to men.
• 03:50 But with respect to hair, quite often they are given more leeway
• 03:55 as far as wearing wigs, extra hair enhancements.
• 03:59 I need you to really have someone else give you an assessment of your hair.
• 04:04 It's hard to do it, it may look perfect to you, but
• 04:07 you can't see from behind things that are jumping up and
• 04:12 out of place looking ridiculous unless it's really, really short, as in my case.
• 04:17 So give some thought to your hair, it's not one size fits all.
• 04:24 It is about the overall impression you're making.
• 04:27 If you are, for example, a 20 year old college student and
• 04:32 you are applying to work at a cool, hip coffee bar, or restaurant,
• 04:37 actually having an asymmetrical hairstyle and one side is purple may help you.
• 04:44 A cool, hip coffee bar wants someone like you working there,
• 04:48 they don't want someone like me working there.
• 04:50 So you've got to look at the business you're in,
• 04:54 the business you wanna be in, and the message you send, and
• 04:59 then make yourself come across the exact way you want.
• 05:03 A few other tips for people in business.
• 05:06 Women, I've noticed, sometimes have this challenge, they're giving a speech,
• 05:09 their hair is longer, they're doing this.
• 05:12 The hair, again, I can't do it, I don't have any hair to flip.
• 05:14 But if you're flipping your hair, if you're running your fingers through your
• 05:19 hair, it calls attention to itself and it can be distracting.
• 05:23 Also, specific to business situations where you're being videotaped or
• 05:28 on television, if you're a woman with a hairstyle with bangs in your eyes,
• 05:34 the bangs can create shadows and it could be distracting to the audience.
• 05:39 Also, if you have your hair coming down sort of covering part of the eye, as is
• 05:43 popular with some women's styles, can look great in person but can look very,
• 05:48 very odd when it comes to what people see on video.
• 05:55 So please, please keep that in mind.
• 05:58 Like everything else we're talking about in this course,
• 06:01 you've gotta look at it from the perspective of,
• 06:03 how does someone who doesn't know you, who's seeing you, sizing you up in
• 06:08 the first few seconds, what opinions are they formulating about you?
• 06:14 And you've gotta make sure it's the opinion you want.
• 06:17 And if nothing else, your hair is not hurting you or distracting you.
• 06:22 It is neutral or helping you.
• 06:24 That's what you want with respect to your hairstyle.

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