Tag Appearances

Um…You do Know it’s a Video Call, Right?

Steve Keating 4 Comments

I’ve been told that one of the advantages of working from home is that you can dress as you please. Working from home has apparently done wonders for the sweatpants business. From my experience it would seem that the shift to working from home has had the opposite effect on any company selling razor blades. 

I’ve also noticed of late that t-shirts are becoming more common. I didn’t pay much attention to that until people starting using their t-shirts to clean around the house and then put them back on for the Zoom call. 

From what I’ve seen the hair care business would be another bad business to invest in. There is far less need for good grooming and hygiene on a Teams Call cause well after all, it’s not like “they” can smell you. 

But they most certainly can see you on a Video call…I’m pretty sure that’s why they call it Video. If it’s a work call then your appearance matters. (Actually it kinda matters all the time but more so in a professional setting)

Right or wrong people form opinions of you based at least partially on your appearance. When your face is the last to pop up on the screen as the meeting is beginning and you’re wearing a t-shirt with holes in it, with grease spots, and you didn’t take the time to even run a comb through your hair then you should know that you are severely damaging your credibility. 

That might not be fair, it might not be right but it is absolutely true. Your colleagues are likely talking about you behind your back…and not in a good way. Worse, your organization’s leadership team are forming long lasting opinions of you. They will last well after you’re back to being in the office and looking all spiffed up. 

Each day dress exactly as if you were going into the office, because you virtually are going into the office, even if you have no calls on your calendar. You will feel more confident, the quality of your work will be higher and perhaps the quantity too. 

If dressing for work even when you’re working from home seems pointless to you then you’re missing the point. The point of dressing professionally even when working in the room down the hall is to maintain your credibility and the respect of the people you interact with. 

Don’t give people anything to talk about other than your excellent work. If they are talking how poorly you look on those calls they won’t be talking about what you said, no matter how insightful you may have been.

That’s today’s reality. Don’t try to fool yourself into thinking your appearance doesn’t matter cause they can only see you on a screen. They can see you…and what they see matters. 

The Look of Leadership

Steve Keating 3 Comments

I was in a conversation with a colleague a while back and the discussion was about the relative leadership abilities of two individuals. We clearly had differing opinions of these two people and my colleague said it was obvious which one was the better leader. They said one looked much more like a leader than the other.

 

I think I know some stuff about leadership. We can debate all day long whether that is true or not but this much I will acknowledge without a doubt; I have no idea what a leader looks like. 

 

I have seen leaders of every shape, size and color. I’ve seen both men and women who were tremendous leaders. I’ve seen many people who never held a true leadership position who were nonetheless outstanding leaders. 

 

Leaders come from all walks of life. They come from every country, every economic level and every so called social level. A great education doesn’t make a person a leader anymore than a lack of formal education limits someone’s potential to lead.

 

Too many people get fooled by what they believe is the “look” of leadership. You know the look; they dress appropriate for their position. The say the right stuff. They are always politically correct. They smile a lot and compliment the people above them in the organization. 

 

It should be pointed out that many great leaders indeed have that exact look….but many do not. It also must be pointed out that having that look most certainly does not make a person a leader. Many people with that “look” are nothing more than a mirage of leadership. 

 

That’s why I don’t invest much time looking at a person to determine if they are in fact a leader. I look at the people they claim to lead. 

 

A managed person who will do what they are told and if they are not told to do something then it is likely that is what they will do, nothing. A person who is led will do so much more. They not only do more they think more, they take more risks, they are more engaged, they care more, they ARE more. 

 

A person who is managed will seldom reach their potential. A person who is led well will reach their potential and then push past it to accomplish more than they ever thought possible. 

 

The “look” of Authentic Leadership and especially Authentic Servant Leadership, is not found by looking at the leader. It is found by looking at the people they lead. 


Using appearance as a criteria for leadership is beyond silly. Yet it happens across organizations big and small every day. Don’t make that mistake, leaders produce favorable results, in themselves and in their people. Throughout history this simple fact has always remained true: if there is no result then there is no leader.