Executive Coach: Does “Dress for Success” Still Matter?

As Executive Coaches, we’re often asked to comment on client organization’s dress codes.  While from a business coaching perspective, one might believe that as long as the job gets done on time, in an efficient manner, and with acceptable results that dress code wouldn’t matter.  The attention to dress codes could further be argued irrelevant since the dotcom boom of the 1990’s (The era that officially ushered in “business casual” and “smart casual”).

During our weekly Business Coach roundtable conference call, we were perplexed when one of the members told the tale of a leader at a training client who exclaimed “I’m coming in to work in blue jeans and a ripped shirt.” Members on the call asked a string of questions, such as:

• “What’s the dress code in the first place where he’s at?”
• “Was he serious?”
• “Do the people that work with him take him serious to begin with?”
• “Does he deliver?”
• “Is he a successful leader?”
• “Should a leader be held to a higher dress code standard?”
• “Who’s following him?”

We concluded by asking a very polarizing question… “Does ‘Dress for Success’ still matter?” In doing research since the call, we’ve found that not only does “Dress for Success” matter, but it might very well be the differentiator between success and failure.  Keep all of this in mind regarding leading the Four Generation Workforce, and dress plays an even more crucial role.  According to Deborah Gray, nowadays you would have to be either very optimistic or naive to believe that what you wear to work is not important.  “While the dotcom era has served to confuse what is appropriate attire, the fact remains  that what you wear to work speaks volumes about your attitude to your job, your colleagues, your clients and yourself” she says (Find out more about Deborah by visiting her website at http://www.dgimage.co.uk/about_deborah_gray.html).

In another study we researched, the author found “Most people make initial decisions about you in the first five minutes they meet you. . . . Does your [clothing] say, ‘I’m an up-and-comer’ or ‘I’m inept’?” (Lorenz, K. (2008, July 25). Do you dress for success? Retrieved January 27, 2009, from http://www.careerbuilder.com/Article/CB-929-The-Workplace-Do-You-Dress-for-Success/).

In yet another study, one that focused more on Generation Y (One of the four generations), formal business attire projected authoritativeness and competence, somewhat formal business attire was associated with productivity and trustworthiness, and less formal business attire was associated with creativity and friendliness (Cardon, P. and Okoro, A. (2009, September). Professional Characteristics Communicated By Formal Versus Casual Workplace Attire. Business Communication Quarterly: Focus on Business Practices).

So what conclusions can you make?  Dress is very important from an Authoritative, Competency, Productive and Trustworthy perspective.  If you are in a Creative or Friendly field of work, business casual may very well be the way to go.  What should our leader do?  We’ll leave that one up to him… According to our research, if he wants to dress comfortably, he might want to dress real comfortably because he might just get buried because of his outfits!

Disclaimer: As Executive Coaches we dress to meet or exceed how our clients are typically dressed.  Therefore, we’re biased towards dressing-up as opposed to dressing-down.  There have been several business coaching incidents where we’ve arrived over dressed for the occasion/atmosphere.  Good news though, you can always remove your tie, but you can’t put one on if you don’t have one (or a collar for that matter!)