Do you want to improve the way you see yourself as part of your efforts to climb the corporate hierarchy? Business Insider offers the following tips to achieve it.
No matter how much you do, it’s easy to project an air of power and confidence commonly associated with the rich, as long as you focus on the right things.
Sylvie di Giusto worked in human resources for more than 20 years before becoming an image consultant in 2009.
His company, Executive Image Consulting , has worked with executives who want to improve the way they present themselves and professionals who seek to climb the corporate hierarchy. She also provides consulting on dress codes to companies, including McKinsey, BMW, and Thomas Cook, according to its website.
Inspired by Vicky Oliver’s book, “The Millionaire Handbook: How to look and act like a millionaire, even if you are not,” we asked di Giusto how someone could look like a millionaire, regardless of their net worth. This is what she said, adding some advice from Oliver.
Invest wisely using the third rule. Every man should have at least a good suit, and every woman should have at least a good set of jacket and pants or skirt. Di Giusto recommends that these “investment pieces” must seem expensive, but that means for his clients that “the more they earn, the more they have to invest”.
She clarifies that professionals can “buy intelligently”, as long as they do not skimp on quality. She recommends visiting designer stores, as well as online equivalents like The Outnet and Gilt.
In his book, Oliver recommends following the “rule of the third”: Buy “a third of the clothes you buy now, but spend three times more on each item”. So instead of buying three pants at a standard price, buy expensive trousers and take it everywhere.
Consider every detail, including the iPhone case. Di Giusto recalls the case of a job applicant whom she interviewed when working for a German company. The interviewee looked good and said all the right things. At the end of the interview, he took out his iPhone to schedule a next appointment. While he was editing his calendar, di Giusto noticed an offensive word stamped on the casing of his phone, and at that moment he questioned everything he thought of him. He ended up hiring him, but this fact almost erased a great first impression by negligent carelessness.
“If you take your image seriously, you have to be aware that it goes way beyond the suit,” Di Giusto said. That means realizing that your desk, your accessories and even the case of your smartphone should be an extension of your professional image.
Adjust your style to your industry, but look something that characterizes it. It is clear that, regardless of the dress code of your company, there is a general way in which people dress according to the industry where they work.
Di Giusto recommends this to most people: you should not try too hard to distinguish yourself. If you work in finance, view conservatively; If you work in technology, opt for something casual chic. A good rule of thumb is to dress like the executives in your company do.
That said, di Giusto does not want his clients to become boring clones of other colleagues. She recommends a garment or flexible article that characterizes it in the workplace. For example, Di Giusto has a pair of unique lenses that he likes to wear with his business suit. She also mentioned a CEO who dresses in traditional dark suits, but combines them with striking floral or pink motifs.
Understand that ‘casual’ does not mean ‘careless’. The problem with the ‘casual’, says di Giusto, is that unlike the ‘formal’, it has never been adequately defined.
“Many people think ‘casual’ means you do not have to worry about anything,” says di Giusto. However, ‘casual’ should mean that only a few pieces of your work clothes are different. She highlighted the example of President Barack Obama, whose usual definition of ‘casual’ is to take off his coat and tie and roll up his sleeves. You can go a step further and replace the pants with a good pair of jeans that fit well, but do not stray too far from the typical work clothes.
Di Giusto says that one of his rules for the ‘casual’ is that it can be used quickly, for example, wearing a coat on casual Friday. Then, if an important meeting comes up, you can put it on and that’s it.
Less is more with cologne or perfume. The scent you use should never be so strong that it distracts someone from what you are saying.
“The moment you smell your perfume, you know it takes too much,” Di Giusto said. Interestingly, she said that this advice does not apply everywhere, since in places like Italy or France, it is customary to use cologne or perfume liberally. But Americans must use a fragrance in a subtle way, Di Giusto said.
Never let a ‘defect’ undermine your confidence. The key to projecting an air of power is to be sure of yourself. And the worst thing for self-confidence is having a persistent idea about a flaw in your appearance. Perhaps nobody will notice the missing button on your jacket, but as soon as you start to worry about it, your behavior can unconsciously take attention to this detail, says di Giusto. Similarly, if one day you wake up and believe that your teeth are not white enough, others may begin to think the same.
Whatever the problem, accept it or make the necessary adjustment. Because if you do not feel comfortable with yourself, you will not see yourself in the best way.
Dress to look taller. Powerful people occupy space. “Unconsciously, we look for leaders who are tall because we associate height with authority,” Oliver says in his book.
So if you lack this advantage naturally, you can create an illusion of height. Examiner recommends women wear heels that are not booties or “strips” around the ankle, and AskMen suggests men opt for dark colors to project power. Both advise low people to opt for garments that fit their body and monochromatic costumes.
Get enough sleep to have radiant skin. And finally, you must correctly adjust the sleep schedule to have a healthy and shiny skin. Oliver recommends spending several days keeping track of how many hours you slept in relation to how productive you were the next day.
“Once you determine your ideal number of hours of sleep, try to get the same amount constantly, even on weekends, force yourself to go to bed and get up at about the same time every day,” he writes. .
