Question:
How to Dress Like a CEO, or How to Dress White? Navy blue suit, avoid flash, avoid sexy, mimic the current, white, male CEO in quality, tone and appearance ... Yep, it's how to dress white.
Answer:
The dress code described in that article is practically a worldwide standard in business but could be considered western European in origin, so in a narrow-minded way, you could say yes, it's "dressing white."
I don't think it's an important distinction--what is between your ears determines who you are. Corporate culture will reflect what is necessary to do business with the widest range of people. Since the United States has the largest gross domestic product (GDP) of any other single nation--almost four times as large as the next largest economy (Japan)--it is only natural that other nations adopted our dress code. Further, psychological tests show that we are predisposed to trust people who look just like us. That's one reason sycophantic behavior is often successful.
Most human beings really don't like change. Having a dress code simplifies the number of variables we all have to deal with. This creates a comfort level from which we can deal with what business is there to do: Be profitable.
In progressive companies, such as those in The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity, acceptable business dress has a broader definition and includes some ethnic/religious garb. It still may be mostly "dressing white," but these companies don't want their employees exclusively "thinking white." This reflects respect to the diversity of talent and business domestically and around the world. (Black, Latino and Asian households in aggregate have double the household income growth of white households in this country, and India and China have almost five times the economic growth rate of the United States, for example.)
It is important to understand that corporations with active diversity management adapt to and incorporate other cultures within their corporate culture. This practice will win over corporations that do not.
A senior-level corporate executive recently gave me this example: When he asked his two Chinese associates about their culture, they told him that Chinese culture held self-promotion in particularly poor regard. He realized his custom of asking associates if they were "ready to be promoted" was very difficult for his Chinese associates to answer affirmatively. In comparison, people brought up in the white American culture would say "absolutely," and he looked for that confidence.
He changed the way he asked about personal performance, thus recognizing true talent and learning a little bit about doing business in China.
As progressive domestic business embraces the change in our nation and the rapid increase in global business, barriers to cultural and/or religious dress are falling. For example, in many companies, women wearing a hijab would have limited opportunities. However, in DiversityInc Top 50 companies, it isn't as much of an issue (unfortunately, I can't think of a large U.S. company where I can realistically say it wouldn't be an issue at all).
Although I would not recommend a person abandon clothing that would violate their sense of modesty, adapting to the average helps a person focus attention directed at them to their performance.
Should you be evaluated by how you dress? In my opinion, yes; it's a sign of how you fit into the corporate culture and how much of a team player you are. Should a company have inclusive values concerning dress? Absolutely; it reflects a broad mindset about the talents of people and indicates the company is ready to do business and find talent worldwide.
If you're a person who wants to work for a company that is facing the future realistically--and you don't want to "leave yourself at the door"--then you should really study the companies on our DiversityInc Top 50 and find the ones within our list that fit your outlook most closely. If you want to work for a company not in the Top 50, study its web site, look at its work force and consider its philanthropy. Companies are not all the same, and being naturally compatible with the prevailing corporate culture is a logical step to a good career.
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Readers' Comments
Dressing professionally is always in style, but for different professions there are different dress codes and office culture. An Image Consultant can guide you. No one likes to show up at an event and be dressed differently than the others and look out of place. Neither should one want to look like a cookie cutter image of everyone else at the office. An Image consultant can guide you in keeping some of your personality and flare, and fit the corporate image. Of course that would depend on how differently you dress from the rest of the office.
People have assumed I was management because I was dressed in a suit, that is the kind of mistake I would rather have them make! Why look like a secretary when you can look like a partner?
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