Stylists Should be Selfish

Hi,

This isn’t what you’ve been taught.

Be selfish.

In order to meet someone else’s needs you have to meet your own needs first. If you’ve flown in a commercial aircraft, you heard, “In the event of a loss of cabin pressure place the oxygen mask firmly over your nose and mouth. Then, assist those around you.” It makes immediate sense doesn’t it? If you aren’t breathing, A) Well, you’re not breathing and that’s bad, and B) You aren’t able to help others. This is a great example of being selfish or meeting your own needs first.

In personal relationships it often works the same way. If your needs are not met then, sooner or later, you will develop resentment. In general, we’ve been taught to be people pleasers. To be good girls and boys. To be quiet. To be polite. To let others go first. But, if we’re always giving, giving in, and compromising, who is taking care of us and our needs? Probably no one. It’s from there our resentment surfaces usually manifesting itself in destructive or passive-aggressive ways. Learning to negotiate for your own needs is a great example of being selfish because it allows you to give of yourself freely and in a heartfelt way.

In business the same principle applies. As a stylist, first you need to understand your needs (see our post “A Stylist’s Competitive Advantage”) and then align yourself with a salon owner who can meet those needs. To succeed, salon owners must create a shared vision that mobilizes their staff to do certain things in the best interest of the salon. They know their staff will only support the salon’s needs if each individual’s needs are met by taking the action requested of them—otherwise stylists agree to do certain things but then don’t follow through. This is usually because they don’t see an immediate, tangible benefit or they don’t think the benefit outweighs their current behavior. Being clear and open about your needs is a great example of being selfish and reduces business frustration and misunderstanding.

In the meantime, salon owners will be hiring staff members based on their natural desire to help the salon meet its business objectives—and building a shared vision with their staff that makes it clear how the salon’s needs are also in each stylist’s best interest.

If these ideas appeal to you, please contact us to discuss how to implement them in your salon. We’d love to help you reach your business objectives, in fact, that’s all we do.

Jim Lucas

Séva Education

(925) 980-7871

gojimlucas@sevastyle.com

© Copyright Jim Lucas 2009-2010 All Rights Reserved