Last year, I took on a new group of clients. I flew to meet them for an offsite Face-to-Face strategy session, which took place over the course of four days. I was the only African American and there were only four other women in a room dominated by Caucasian men. While there, some men interacted with me. However, the vast majority treated me as if I was invisible. They treated me as if I hadn’t earned my way to have a seat at the table. Imagine my surprise when I saw one of the gentlemen a few months later and he commented that I had changed my hair. I had changed my hair, but it wasn’t a drastic or noticeable change at all. It was only parted differently.

Six months after the first strategy session, we all reconvened for a second session. This time, I was the only African American again and the only woman in the room. One of the men who sat next to me for three days in the first session and never said one word was in the room working on his computer when I entered. He didn’t look up. When he saw others talking to me, he came over and said hello. Not only did he say hello, but he commented that I changed my hair and he liked it. He even went so far as to say how nice I always look. Very interesting considering I thought I was invisible to him unless I was actually speaking.

Lesson Learned

You never know who is watching you or studying you for that matter, so ALWAYS bring your “A” game and give them something to talk about. I mean people I see all the time never commented about the change in my hair…goodness.

Question

How does your image match where you are going?