Gareth Southgate has a knack for achieving the impossible.
He has steered England through a competitive knock-out game, led them to victory in a penalty shoot-out, and, most shocking of all, made waistcoats cool again – with his sartorial statement leading to an upsurge in sales.
Southgates embrace of the waistcoat is more than just a personal fashion statement. It points towards how everyone can use their dress to embody and inspire their team.
Read more: England beat penalty curse on fraught night of fine margins
Sartorial language
Getting dressed is one of the first things we do in the morning, and consciously or not, you build your image from the garments you select.
The body is a canvas, and clothing decorates it, signifying to the rest of the world who you are and what you care about. Sartorial language is subtle, but important.
While “casual Fridays” and Silicon Valley execs struck a blow for dressing down, that itself is an admission of the power clothing has.
Mark Zuckerbergs ever-present grey t-shirt is designed to save him time, but also to show to the world that he cares more for productivity than peacocking. It is part of a very contrived – and successful – image.
So too for Southgate. The waistcoat may be standard-issue English attire, but the way he wears it says a lot about the man. His smartness shows that he is ready for work, that he is taking the occasion seriously, though he abandons his jacket to display dynamism.
This embodies his managerial style, his attention to detail and rigorous preparation. Moreover, by crafting his own brand, he is building something for his team to rally around.
Judge and be judged
Every manager, and firm, should pay attention to how they dress. What you want to project will vary from industry to industry – a techie in a tailcoat is as jarring as an accountant in athleisure wear – but it is essential to ensure that your image is a deliberate one. We instinctively make judgements on how others are attired, and, fair or not, it is important to ensure that those judgements help, rather than harm you.
As a divorce lawyer, dressing your clients for court can be an important part of your advice. Turning up to court to plead poverty in a Savile Row suit rarely comes across well, while a judge can be reluctant to make an emergency maintenance award if you arrive dripping in diamonds.
Proper dress for proper performance
In business, your dress sense will play into your personal brand, and you should embrace your own style and play it to your advantage. Learn the codes for your industry, but also learn how to play with them. Find the rules you can break and where you can flaunt your individualism. Think about how your image matches the values of your work, and what it says to the people around you.
As a firm, look to use dress codes for more than policing your staff away from flip-flops and faded jeans, but as part of your internal and external marketing.
Encourage your employees to dress in a way which reflects your work, whether that is trustworthy and traditional or creative and crazy. Dont tie them up in outdated rules, and avoid potentially discriminatory edicts. Instead, give them a framework to embody what you want to convey. Your sartorial style guide is part of your communications strategy, so work it your advantage.
Follow Southgates example, and find a way to make a statement which can define you and your leadership. Find a unique style which exemplifies your work. And maybe dig out a waistcoat.
Read more: Is Southgate right to stick to one formation throughout the World Cup?
Gareth Southgate has a knack for achieving the impossible.
He has steered England through a competitive knock-out game, led them to victory in a penalty shoot-out, and, most shocking of all, made waistcoats cool again – with his sartorial statement leading to an upsurge in sales.
Southgates embrace of the waistcoat is more than just a personal fashion statement. It points towards how everyone can use their dress to embody and inspire their team.
Read more: England beat penalty curse on fraught night of fine margins
Sartorial language
Getting dressed is one of the first things we do in the morning, and consciously or not, you build your image from the garments you select.
The body is a canvas, and clothing decorates it, signifying to the rest of the world who you are and what you care about. Sartorial language is subtle, but important.
While “casual Fridays” and Silicon Valley execs struck a blow for dressing down, that itself is an admission of the power clothing has.
Mark Zuckerbergs ever-present grey t-shirt is designed to save him time, but also to show to the world that he cares more for productivity than peacocking. It is part of a very contrived – and successful – image.
So too for Southgate. The waistcoat may be standard-issue English attire, but the way he wears it says a lot about the man. His smartness shows that he is ready for work, that he is taking the occasion seriously, though he abandons his jacket to display dynamism.
This embodies his managerial style, his attention to detail and rigorous preparation. Moreover, by crafting his own brand, he is building something for his team to rally around.
Judge and be judged
Every manager, and firm, should pay attention to how they dress. What you want to project will vary from industry to industry – a techie in a tailcoat is as jarring as an accountant in athleisure wear – but it is essential to ensure that your image is a deliberate one. We instinctively make judgements on how others are attired, and, fair or not, it is important to ensure that those judgements help, rather than harm you.
As a divorce lawyer, dressing your clients for court can be an important part of your advice. Turning up to court to plead poverty in a Savile Row suit rarely comes across well, while a judge can be reluctant to make an emergency maintenance award if you arrive dripping in diamonds.
Proper dress for proper performance
In business, your dress sense will play into your personal brand, and you should embrace your own style and play it to your advantage. Learn the codes for your industry, but also learn how to play with them. Find the rules you can break and where you can flaunt your individualism. Think about how your image matches the values of your work, and what it says to the people around you.
As a firm, look to use dress codes for more than policing your staff away from flip-flops and faded jeans, but as part of your internal and external marketing.
Encourage your employees to dress in a way which reflects your work, whether that is trustworthy and traditional or creative and crazy. Dont tie them up in outdated rules, and avoid potentially discriminatory edicts. Instead, give them a framework to embody what you want to convey. Your sartorial style guide is part of your communications strategy, so work it your advantage.
Follow Southgates example, and find a way to make a statement which can define you and your leadership. Find a unique style which exemplifies your work. And maybe dig out a waistcoat.
Read more: Is Southgate right to stick to one formation throughout the World Cup?
