We Are Role Models

• September 11th, 2007
• View Comments (3)

It is the business of a Mary Kay® Independent Beauty Consultant to enrich women’s lives. We not only accomplish this through introduction of a great product. We do this by building our customers’ self esteem as well as our team. Anyone we put the product on is a potential team member. I’m not saying go out and recruit everyone you know. What I’m saying is, that in many cases, we are the only Mary Kay® people our customers know. How we behave is so important. If we are meeting a lot of people and working a full time business, we must be on our best behavior at all times. By doing this, it will ingrain that behavior into natural habit. That is what the Mary Kay® Image is all about. Not only looking good, but acting graciously. How we behave plants seeds in the thoughts of others as far as what Mary Kay® represents. Our actions not only impress upon our customers, but also our sister consultants!

I know there is a school of thought in Mary Kay that directors should not associate with consultants. I also know that not all directors follow this school of thought and I am also aware that this ideation may or may not stem from MKC. With that said, I am going to begin to make my point.

Since we are aware that this type of behavior exists, we have to be the change. There are many stories of unhappy consultants and former consultants. It is sad, really. Many of the problems could have been avoided if someone would swallow their pride and turn the other cheek. How we run our businesses affects the overall perception of Mary Kay®. If we behave badly it reflects poorly on all of us. Fortunately, I think there are more good consultants and directors than bad; however, it only takes a handful of bad apples to ruin the bunch! If someone has a great experience, she’ll tell 10 people (at most). If she has a bad experience, she’ll tell everyone she knows!

This type of behavior is not exclusive to Mary Kay. In my day job, we have two types of employees. We have Classified Employees who are paid hourly and we have Professional Employees who are salaried. There are unwritten “rules” that Professional staff doesn’t mix with Classified staff. Such was the case in 1998 when I began working there. In 2003, however, new administration moved in and changed that. Yes, we are still separate classifications, but we are a TEAM. Period. And I have seen, to some extent, the snobbery diminish. No corporation is perfect and this type of behavior exists everywhere. The problem with it existing in Mary Kay is quite simple. Mary Kay is supposed to be the alternative to this corporate rat race and popularity contest. When we give someone company information and go on and on about how Mary Kay is women working with women and helping one another; and then someone comes in and gets the cold shoulder because her jacket isn’t red or she isn’t in “the suit.” Well, we’ve just contradicted our sales pitch at this business model. But it goes beyond what your MK “Uniform” is. I have been snubbed at corporate events by other consultants and directors. I am fully aware of mistreatment others have felt they endured at corporate events. I have seen (and heard stories of) consultants who come down to the hotel breakfast during Seminar wearing *gasp* sweats and no makeup! They say “hello” to a familiar director face and are ignored!? What kind of “Go-Give” attitude is this? And from someone who was voted “Miss Go-Give of the month” at one point in her career? Don’t get me wrong, image is important, but when it’s 7:00 a.m. and someone is just running downstairs for a cup of coffee to take back to her room, then perhaps some situation appropriate understanding is in order!

I have said this before and I will repeat it here: I have been very blessed in my MK journey with very ethical and real directors. My director has never ignored me at a corporate event or put me off in any way. Of course if someone is in DIQ she is going to give them more attention than me–as it should be–but her approach is completely soft and induces no hard feelings.

When we decide to put ourselves into a leadership position of any kind, we simply must understand that others are going to look up to us. They are going to talk to us. We’re role models as directors more than anything else. Directors have to set an example. The example should never be snobbery. That is the very behavior that Mary Kay is supposed to refute. The kindness of MK people is what we bank on when we promote this business to anyone. Mary Kay Ash vowed that she would always look at someone who was standing in front of her. She knew she was a role model and she knew what responsibility went with it.

There are good role models and bad role models. What kind of role model are you?

Tags: Customer Service, People Management, Personal Responsibility, Team Building