A friend recently mentioned the updated LinkedIn page of a former colleague. He said she had on a blazer and exhibited an overall style that sounded like what you might call the “corporate-polished look.”
I wondered if this makeover was an attempt to fall more in line with corporate expectations for appearance. I also wonder if she assumes this updated look will enhance people’s impression of her as a “serious” person. When we say, “professional image,” do we mean “serious person”?
Conflating Conformity with Competence
I have a creative bent to my personality, even while exhibiting highly professional characteristics, such as consistently delivering quality work on time. You won’t meet a more reliable person. Yet, professional image has meant something different to me. I have focused on it in terms of my work habits more than a need to look understated and conservative in dress. Bright colors and fanciful prints are my thing. I consider this an advantage because I stand out from many others. A friend once referred to me as a peacock in a yard full of chickens.
I have known many chickens over the course of my career, and some of those chickens are doing better as chickens than they ever would have done as peacocks.
There is a human tendency to want things to be as you expect them. If you’re used to people in conservative dress in a particular job role, and a woman in a dress with cat heads and pink tights comes flouncing in—regardless of how nice she looks—you may be taken aback. I don’t remember wearing that exact combination to a business meeting, but I will tell you I wore the cat heads dress to read the verdict in a court of law as the foreperson of a jury.
As a Learning professional, it’s important to weigh the outer image against proven work performance and to consider whether the parts of outward appearance that are by choice, such as dress, could be an advantage or hindrance. Is the person in a role where they are interacting with a traditional, conservative marketplace, or is this person’s role facing an industry where people often attend conferences in shorts and jeans? If the role requires interaction with a conservative group of people, a conversation about toning it down might be a good idea. However, if the industry the person works in is more tolerant of whimsy, it would be the manager’s or the Learning professional’s own limited thinking and biases that are at play in assuming less competency due to less traditional attire.
Points for Clear, Direct Communication
Communicating expectations to employees and then giving fair warning when those expectations are not met, along with the capacity to communicate clearly with clients/customers, should be an essential measure of professional image.
Getting back to my former colleague and her newfound blazer, I am reminded that clothing is often just a costume with no underlying truth. This was a person who failed heartily at communicating with her employees. Her rushed style of communication is often muddled, giving the recipient of messages the impression of a person dashing off instructions and input while being otherwise engaged. Her messages don’t always make sense and frequently leave out important information.
Her communication style makes me think of how a person on a fast-paced assembly line might sound if you suddenly put that person in a corporate leadership role and told them to give guidance to their team while keeping pace with the conveyor belt.
When in leadership training, a conversation about dressing to meet the expectations of customers/clients is essential, but alongside that, you shouldn’t neglect the importance of professionalism in communication.
Are the manager’s written and spoken messages clear and coherent? Or does the recipient need to fill in the blanks and puzzle over exactly what is meant? Do the communications come across as well considered or afterthoughts carelessly dashed off as the manager races out the door?
Employees and customers/clients can sniff out a lack of genuine caring and attention in response to questions and needs. That new blazer only goes so far.
Is professional image a topic of conversation during your leadership development programming? What do you feel are the most important elements of a “professional image”?