Your business will reflect your image, including the one in the full length mirror.
Steve Jobs earned the privilege of wearing jeans and T-shirts in public appearances by building, then re-building, Apple. The rest of us haven't delivered that kind of value yet. We typically have to dress in a manner that will be accepted or even praised by our clients, prospects, important members of our value chains and even our employees. We have to look like they want us to look - like we mean business.
We're always selling, after all. And people buy feelings. The way we present ourselves affects the feelings we evoke in others. So personal appearance is part of our corporate Message.
But Jim, you say, one of the reasons I started my own company was to get free of all that dress-up pressure. Sorry, I say. Get over it. Unless, of course, you spend all your time in a back room and leave the public appearances to a hired suit.
It's not that hard, really.
"Business casual" for males typically means khakis and a collared shirt, perhaps with a blazer over the top. But don't mistake that for khakis you have been wearing for three days and a collared work shirt that was wadded up in a drawer. That's Hollywood stuff.
Oh, and by the way, this applies to the look and feel of your workplace, too.
And Steve Jobs wears really nice jeans and T-shirts.
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