Image Consulting- A career of choice for women
Guess which is the world’s largest service industry – Hospitality? Travel? Healthcare?
None of the above.
It’s the Industry of Home-Makers. It is one of the most fulfilling industries and it has women at its helm. They are the consultants, managers, implementers and CEOs of this omnipresent industry. Not one of us goes through life without coming under the wing of these home-makers or at least of a care-taker.
Now, this industry has a curious character which makes women just right to be an Image Consultant –women, who ‘man’ this industry, really and truly want the best for the people they provide service to. At the same time, their ability to multi-task helps them meet the multiple demands on their time and attention. These aspects are true for women who undertake work outside home too. They juggle both – home-making and their external work – making them stronger multi-taskers while retaining their natural inclination to nurture.
With the desire to see their family members do better each day of their lives, they help their spouse, children and the extended family. They nurture, they help others grow and for these two qualities alone, they are capable of changing the lives of people far beyond their families – in their role as Image Consultants.
To go deeper, it is the skills and traits needed by a successful Image Consultant that make women just right for the domain.
Skills
Many skills can be acquired, but it takes a knack for the domain to acquire the fine skills that border on intuition. Let’s take the first two of the four elements of image management – clothing, grooming, body language and vocal communication.
A strong visual sense forms the core skill of an image consultant, helping them deal with the clothing and grooming elements successfully. For women, this is their daily business as home-maker for the family. They have an intuitive sense of what brings out the best in the person. Further, women are particularly good at their communication skills – the fourth element – which is essential for a person entering the business of image consulting.
Traits
Apart from skills, traits are particularly important and it is these that make great image consultants out of women. The confidence with which women carry their skills, in addition to their empathy and patience gives them the right body language – the third element – inspiring confidence in their ability to help clients succeed as well as to form meaningful relationships.
Further, as much as image consultants need to understand client requirements, they must understand the clients themselves and these twin traits of empathy and patience help them do just that.
In addition, women are recognized for their organizational and interpersonal abilities, according to Bentley’s Preparedness Study. With these abilities comes the diplomacy required to convince clients about the right course of action.
Further, image consulting requires the ability to see the big picture while paying attention to the fine detail. At the same time, these must be set within the context of the client’s work, home and social environments. All this requires a strong ability to multi-task in terms of planning, design and in bringing bring together all the disparate aspects which women are geared to do effectively.
In addition to bringing their many ideas and their understanding to each assignment, women share their learning, they mentor clients, moulding their lives and helping them fulfill their dreams. In the process, they enable clients to make the most out of their work, home and social lives, bringing happiness and satisfaction to their lives.
As Image Consultants, women make a huge difference in the lives of the many lucky people who reach out to them to bring about a positive image. They are in a position to extend their capacity to nurture and grow people far beyond their family.
Make a difference! To know more about our Image Consulting Courses visit here.
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