The Fringe Benefits of Small Steps 💇🏻♀️
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Hello Reader, Almost ten years ago to the day, I met my hairstylist Ally. Ally is the best, but no lie, the reason I initially decided to have her fix my too long, gone a year-plus without a cut, hair was because her bio mentioned she had a dog named "Curl"—naturally, I figured we'd get along! When I had my first appointment, I sat down and Ally asked me the usual question, "So what do you want to do with your hair?" To which I replied, "You can do anything you want except give me bangs." (Cue the laughter from everyone who knows me or as ever seen a photo of me.) Over the next couple years, Ally took great care of my hair as I dutifully showed up for my every eight week cut. My hair looked better than every before! Eventually, slowly and then all at once... you guessed it: I had thick thick bangs (or "fringe" for my British English using pals) that hit just above my glasses, Jess from New Girl-style. People who've always known me with this hairstyle say they can't imagine seeing my forehead (I think this is a compliment?)—this is just my style. A few years ago, I asked Ally if she'd planned this all along, to which she said, "Oh, definitely, from the first time you sat down and said, 'Absolutely not bangs.' I knew it would be the perfect style, but you just weren't ready." And this is what a great strategist does: they listen to what their clients stated goals are, but they also identify what's possible. We can't come at people expecting them to embrace everything—they need to be ready. We have to meet people where they're at and help them build the foundation so they can see even more potential paths. That's what Ally did with me. Instead of arguing, "Oh, but you'd look great with bangs," she slowly introduced small steps that I could embrace that moved me in that direction. Particularly in American culture, but I fear this has become a global phenomenon, we tend to take an all or nothing approach. This definitely permeates into business, both small and large. And this especially extends into marketing. If we can't go all in, why bother. Go big or go home. But in reality, a long term strategy can start with a small step in a new direction is actually really great—it can actually create bigger movement over time. (Just like with my hair!) Talk soon, |