The impact of (in)accurate presentation
Christof Chartier is the founder and owner of Templeton construction firm C.M. Chartier Contracting
Before you even open your mouth, they've already made up their minds. Whether you're introducing yourself to a new customer or giving direction to a co-worker, your overall appearance has a staggering effect on how that other person views you.
While this point-of-view is about as un-PC as it comes and people will cry foul at the unfairness of it, we cannot deny the truth: appearance matters.
Take a moment to call to mind the physical characteristics you attribute to different professions. Doctor. Fast-food worker. Yoga instructor. Police officer. Tattoo artist. Therapist. Chances are that there are commonalities between what you imagined and what the others reading this article imagined. This is not coincidental or stereotypical, necessarily. Many common characteristics in a given field are there for a reason – doctors often work unpredictable hours and therefore may tend to have dark circles under their eyes and coffee on their breath. The important thing is not that those common characteristics are there, but if they are positive or negative. Now picture a construction worker – scruffy, colorful vocabulary, desperate for that five-minute coffee and cigarette break. And these are the guys working on your brand new kitchen in your home?
This is a reality in my field that I face and have tried to combat. What customers and potential clients don't see when they look at a stereotypical carpenter is someone who can create something unbelievably beautiful with their hands, someone who loves to read their children bedtime stories, someone who is burning the midnight oil studying for their licensing test. Those are the attributes we want other people to see. But they won't be seen, if our exterior does not present the truth. The many positive traits carpenters share can often go unnoticed when the negatives get in the way.
The training involved in joining the C.M. Chartier crew goes beyond hammering nails and painting trim. It includes lessons on how to engage customers and subcontractors, coworkers and employees with words and actions. Posture, eye contact, facial expressions and handshakes can communicate precisely what you want the other person to know if you do so consciously. We want our customers to feel comforted knowing our crew will be working in the homes where they raise their families; we want our employees to know we respect them and appreciate them.
We have, at times, been accused of having irrational rules and unattainable expectations in our employee handbook (“You really expect me to not get paint on my Dickies?”). But those guidelines are there for precisely the reasons I outlined above.
• Do you want your co-worker to respect you? Look them in the eye.
• You want the customer to have faith in you? Smile and say hello to their kids when you get to the jobsite.
• You want your manager to consider you for a promotion? Keep your uniform neat and clean.
In a perfect world people wouldn't jump to conclusions based on what another person looks like, but this isn't a perfect world. Naysayers will claim that being over cognizant of these things will result in loss of self, of free expression, but that is false.
When you take the time to think about how you are perceived by others, much can be gained, including confidence and, hopefully, new customers.
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