Susan Boyle, her name is all over the news and her melodic voice has entered our hearts and homes. This morning, I read an article from the BBC news about her interview on the Larry King Live Show. There are a few statements made by the judges of “Britain Has Talent,” as well as a writer for a celebrity magazine quoted in the article, that I believe have a far reaching significance beyond the focus of Susan Boyle.
One of the judges, Amanda Holden, “said they had been ‘very cynical’, and that the performance was the ‘biggest wake-up call ever.’” What is this biggest wake-up call? I am assuming that Holden might mean “you don’t judge a book by its cover.”
Another judge, Piers Morgan, said on the Larry King Show, “I’m sorry because we did not give you anything like the respect we should have done when you first came out,” he told her. Referring to her appearance, he said: “We thought you were going to be a bit of a joke act, to be honest with you.” There is a lesson here for all of us. What are the biases we have toward appearance and how does it impact our day to day interactions with people?
When I was working for a company that took school pictures, I remember so distinctly the challenges and opportunities faced in recruiting during our busy season. I would have to recruit about 200 workers for a three to four month employment period for positions as photographers, clerks, customer service representatives and lab workers. I would recruit from agencies whose mission was to find work for the disadvantaged worker. One day a woman came into my office and asked me if I would consider interviewing her sister. Then she went on to say that her sister had some medical issues which affected her physical appearance. This caused her sister to be rejected time and time again by potential employers. Her sister was smart and wanted a part-time job.
Well, the day came and Peggy (not her real name) entered my office supported by her sister and mother. Her mother was very protective, and her sister was eager to have Peggy enter into a new experience. Peggy was small, and frail with facial features of bulging eyes set in an enlarged head. I had a flashback of “ET”. Through the course of the interview, I was convinced that this woman could do the job. I was prepared to hire her on the spot however; a colleague who would supervise her had to concur. My colleague and I were in agreement and Peggy was hired; resulting in a wonderful work relationship. Peggy worked for us for three years and while she was there she made a difference. She had a fine eye for detail and was not afraid to speak her mind. When she was there; the team was more productive. Peggy had a way of bringing them together.
Susan Boyle’s story reminds me of Peggy and the many others that are not given the chance because of outward appearance. I wonder how often, as managers and leaders, we have let good people slip through the cracks or have applied the “Pygmalion” effect and expected less.
In the same article that I referenced in my opening remarks, Lisa Schwarzbaum, writer for the US celebrity magazine, Entertainment Weekly, said, “The performance was a powerful reality check.”
She wrote: “In our pop-minded culture so slavishly obsessed with packaging – the right face, the right clothes, the right attitudes, the right Facebook posts – the unpackaged artistic power of the unstyled, un-hip, un-kissed Ms Boyle let me feel, for the duration of one blazing show stopping ballad, the meaning of human grace. She pierced my defenses. She reordered the measure of beauty. And I had no idea until tears sprang how desperately I need that corrective.”
Thank you Susan Boyle and all other “Peggy’s” who take the bold step to follow their hearts’ passion and courageously say through their actions, “I have something to offer. Give me the chance.” And to those of us who are touched by Susan Boyle and Peggy, I ask you to continue telling their story and keep it alive.
