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Writer's pictureSomer Hackley

If you talk to strangers, read this book.

Updated: Mar 9, 2021


As humans we size people up. Gladwell surprises us, demonstrating that our assumptions are wrong and explains why. The concept applies to nearly everything going on right now, big and small. As someone who talks to strangers for a living, I couldn’t help but also read this with a recruiting lens. As we invite ourselves into each other’s homes with video interviews, the facial cues of “mismatched” people (Gladwell’s descriptor) could lead us down the wrong path. With increased risk comes increased scrutiny, and there is a lot of risk aversion these days. Many hiring managers and candidates judge the other with gut feel. It’s important to ask the right questions and dig into those answers. What we ask, how we listen, and our self-awareness are important. Reviews mention that Gladwell points out a problem in his storytelling fashion, but doesn’t offer a solution. Perhaps that wasn’t his intent. It’s up to us to take action. We all talk to strangers. PS: I read this but I hear the audio version is fantastic. PPS: Some parts are hard to read, so please take care of yourself with the subject matter. Here’s the link on Amazon: https://lnkd.in/e2pX8EV #leadership








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