Envisioning Possibilities
Career
“The greatest thing is, at any moment to be willing to give up who we are in order to become all that we can be.” Max De Pree
Dress for Success
I spoke to a young person recently about their career. They are on their way up the corporate ladder—not a rising star, but climbing. We were doing a Zoom chat about work, and he was asking, “What can I do to get to the next level?” His title was impressive but not the director position he wanted.
He currently was able to work from home which he thought was to his advantage. During the zoom chat I noticed his background – a plain wall with a hanging wine rack. We chatted about it. He said he got a lot of questions about the rack so he decided not to have his face on the zoom call.
The Dress for success part came up when I asked what his boss and bosses boss wore to work. He noticed they were all wearing T- Shirts. I continued probing. Yes, they were dark without any noticeable identification.
My take – he was doing a great job, working for a fabulous company and supporting a growing family.
Here are my suggestions.
Always show your face on a zoom call. Better yet, get into the office as much as you can, you need to be seen. If necessary schedule your breaks at the same time as your boss and your bosses boss. Go to lunch at the same time – plan your encounters. Show up! Say Hello.
If you are going to be 100% Zoom – pick a very corporate background as a virtual office. Or create your own with corporate logos or blur your background. Don’t expose your private life that may be a detriment to you progress. Your boss may be a long-time AAA member, and seeing your wine rack background may not sit well.
Dress the part. – The T-shirt theme is great as long as it has the corporate logo on it. Anything else will send a message you don’t want. If you know your boss is a long time fan of a specific ball club, yes wear his team logo. Otherwise keep it simple.
Your career is more fragile than you know.
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With so many people working from home it’s hard to be professional. I like your ideas.
Good advice! I remember being told once, by an image consultant, decades ago, that I was dressed as if I were going to lunch with a friend, not going to work. She told me to start wearing suits, instead. And she cautioned me to always be dressier on casual Fridays than whatever the boss is wearing.
Jeanine – I had a young lady doing an internship for a design company show up in “sleepware”. I asked her how she would dress if she were the director of design. The next day she wore a suit jacket. We are what we think. Choose wisely.