How does appearance affect your creditability?

Should we be judged by the way we dress?  No, but we are judged on everything from our age, our intelligence, how much money we make, etc. in the first 11 seconds.  First impressions do make a difference and are oftentimes hard to overcome.

In an article on 'What does business casual really mean,' I found the following.....

"Many highly intelligent, well-qualified, capable men and women are often disqualified or dismissed because 'they don't sell for what they're worth,'" Price told Business Insider. "They've left the 'business' out of 'business casual' and the lack of professional appearance holds them back. It's frustrating because clothing certainly does not determine one's actual competence and credibility; it does, however, influence others' perception of those qualities — and that reality impacts career opportunities."

80% of success is showing up, but how you show up also matters.  

For many years as an image consultant, I taught these concepts.  Even when I left my corporate job, I gave presentations on 'Dressing for success when interviewing for a job placement firm.  Many of the people I spoke with assumed they should dress according to the job for which they were applying.  Not necessary.  I advised to always dress a step above the job you were applying for.  For instance, if applying for a position where business casual is appropriate, an open-collared shirt with a sport coat would be more appropriate.  

Being in sales and meeting with potential clients means you are constantly interviewing.  Appearance does come into the equation.  Whether networking or on scheduled appointments.

Here are a couple of podcasts that further define the importance of dress and appearance.

In Podcast #649, Dr. Misner discusses the 12x12x12 rule.  In this article, Dr. Misner states....

You want to come across as a professional, whether you’re going to a chamber of commerce function or a big event. You want to come across as a professional, generally speaking. I try to dress at or above my audience level. But not all professions have to do that. If you’re a car mechanic, you don’t have to dress, you know, in a suit and tie. But you do want to come across, you know – khakis and a nice shirt. You want to look professional.

In Podcast #577, Meaghan Chitwood, BNI Northern Alabama Region Executive Director, recounts her experience with being 'not referable' as a business coach.

When Meaghan first joined a BNI chapter in Alabama, she’d just come out of the construction industry. Although she was now working as a business coach, she was still dressing to fit in on a construction site. She was focused on establishing credibility by knowing what she was talking about.

One day, two of her fellow BNI members came to her and said “We want to help you, because right now you’re just not referable.”

Are you referable?  What does your appearance say about you?  How are you showing up?  It's always been my philosophy that you never know when you're going to meet your next best client or referral partner.  My advice....'Don't ever miss an opportunity to make a good first impression!'

Happy Networking,

Annette

Change - Trying something new - Old Dog – New Tricks

I am a creature of habit, I’ll admit, and I am not a fan of change.  As I started out for my run on a few days ago, I couldn’t go my usual way.  We live on a street that circles around and blends into the main street for the neighborhood.  I couldn’t go my usual way because my neighbor had the road blocked with his truck and trailer.  So rather than waiting for him to clear the road, I decided to just go the other way.  Gosh, did that feel strange.  Although this is the same road, it just seemed so different to go the other way.  It took getting back on the regular route before I felt comfortable again.  Although I was doing the same thing, my walk/run routine, just starting out in a different direction made it seem so strange.

Have you ever started something new?  Or tried doing something a different way?  Did it feel uncomfortable to start with?  Did you continue with the new way or revert back to the same old way you’ve always done things?

This makes me think of all those motivational seminars where the speaker asks you to fold your arms a certain way that was comfortable and then asking you to fold them a different way.  The different way was not uncomfortable per se, it just felt different.  That’s kind of how it is when we want something to change, but we want it to be comfortable.  Or we want to change, and we want to get it right the first time, so that the process or the new thing will be easy.  Nope, it just doesn’t work that way usually.  Typically, when we try or attempt to do something new, it’s going to feel uncomfortable and/or at least different until we get used to it.  Until we train it to muscle memory and make it a habit. 

So how can we make change more comfortable?  How can we establish the habits/routines we need to make?  Here are my thoughts…..

-        I think one of the first ways is, we have to commit to the change.  Sometimes that means doing some research, reading some articles, watching some videos, talking to people, etc. to see how other people are doing the thing we want to do.  Learning what has worked for others and figuring out what we feel will work best for us.  However, while research is a good thing to do, some people suffer from analysis paralysis in that they can’t start anything new until they’ve done all the research in the world and have everything down to a science before they start.  These are the folks that will give you every excuse there is for why they can’t or won’t start something new.

-        Secondly, I think we have to commit to a start date.  Most people start new things at the beginning of a new year – by making their new year’s resolutions.  Some start on a Monday.  The point is, you must decide and start and also commit to give the change time.  Most say it takes doing something 40 times or 40 days to commit it to habit.

-        Third – Realize we’re not going to be perfect the first couple of times we try our new thing.  We are going to stumble and mumble, but that’s OK, as we learn to do the thing the correct way.  Think in terms of a ball player practicing their craft.  They spend hours swinging a bat or throwing a ball in order to get better and better.  We will get better the more we do the thing.

-        Fourth – Track our progress.  How are we going to get better if we don’t have some sort of measurement?  Progress is progress regardless of how small.  How do we eat an elephant?  One small bite at a time. 

-        Fifth – Critique, adjust, and stay on track and if we get off track, even starting over.  If it’s important enough to us, we’ll keep on keeping on in order to make the positive changes and develop the positive habits we want to make in our lives.

Often, we are presented with new ways of doing things, i.e. new concepts, new ideas, new procedures, etc.  While we hear that others may have tried the new thing and had success, we resist and give reasons as to why we don’t think it will work.  The ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ mentality.  Yes, I’m guilty and must rationalize as to why it would be beneficial to give the new way a try.  Kind of like my scenario of doing my running routine in a different direction.  It felt a little strange, but sometimes a change adds new life and vitality to a regular routine.  Perhaps doing the same routine a different way will net better results.

Do you remember Mikey?  ‘Try it, you’ll like it.’  If we never try it, how do we know if the new way will work better or not?’

What have you tried and/or changed?  What is your feedback on this topic?

Your comments and feedback are welcomed and appreciated.

To Your Success,

Annette

Painted Lady Enterprises

'Helping You and Your Business Look Good'