Happy Monday everyone.
The person you are interviewing has long hair and is wearing red coloured shoes for the interview and you work for a prestigious consulting company. Lets say, your dress code says “FORMALS” in capitals !! What assumptions will you make of this interviewee ? He must be the new kid on the job scene, a punk, must be partying every night and may not be serious about his work…. our clients won’t take him seriously ? Thats the world of assumptions and maybe you won’t hire him because he doesn’t fit – but, hold on, he may be the one you are looking for. He has the courage to think differently and red shoes don’t mean non-serious, they could mean serious fun. Pun intended. This person may have a razor sharp mind and maybe he can solve your clients’ issues with ease. Don’t shake your head… read a minute more.
Today morning I was reading a post on Facebook about Santosh Yadav. This person has climbed Mt. Everest twice and this person’s lung capacity was rated poor. This person is from Haryana and has even been awarded the Padma Shri. Now here’s the picture of this person –
Did many of your assumptions fall flat ? How many of you thought Santosh would be a man ? How many of you thought Santosh has only climbed Mt. Everest twice and many others have done it more times – she is the only woman mountaineer to have climbed Mt. Everest twice !! Read more about her –
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santosh_Yadav
She is a mother now and she had the gumption to be a stay-at-home mom !!
Stay away from assumptions and be curious to find out more – there are many opportunities that fall by the wayside just because you live in the world of assumptions. Wake up, welcome to the world of non-assumptions and reality and nice strong coffee ! Hire that person wearing red shoes if he has the right skills 🙂