How we choose to present ourselves in the professional environment can support who we are or can discredit us. It may not change how we view ourselves, full of talent, knowledge and experience, but it certainly can change the way in how others will approach or think about us.
One might have heard from friends that they are out on a mission to shop for a new work wardrobe. And how they need to find something that they both like and function along with a long list of clothes that they’re not allowed to wear.
Like most of us know, this can include ripped jeans, tight or short apparel, t-shirts or even something as crazy as bright colors or distracting patterns.
I don’t like to refer to this restriction as a dress code, but simply as ethics which helps us own up to what we’re exercising. Dress codes are not out to get us, they’re here to support and give us that reliability we deserve.
A story I always remember while I’m getting ready for work was how someone close to me was at a trade show once. This person was wearing a casual outfit, the company’s branded golf shirt, a pair of brown slacks and top siders. Pretty basic, really, but appropriate and presentable for the occasion.
This person then told me how their bosses were dressed, with an even more casual shirt, jeans and some sneakers. When the buyers came up to the company’s booth, they first approached and greeted the one wearing the brown slacks and the company’s branded shirt, mistaking that person for the owner.
And like everything, there is always the exception, which in this case I remember the story everyone knows, about Apple’s creator, Steve Jobs. And we are all well aware of the other iconic thing about him, as the owner he would wear a black turtle neck with jeans and sneakers everyday for work.
Now, I am fully aware that Jobs might be violating a small part of the dress code, but since he’s the creator of the company and the brand, we won’t take note into that.
Some may argue that as the owner, Jobs shouldn’t have present himself like that to his job. But honestly, the only thing that changed here is how people didn’t know who he was until they asked or presented himself.
If this can tell us anything, is that following the dress code can humble us. It gives us the recognition we deserve.
