The Look of leadership - what is it and how important is it?
How important is it to look like a leader, even when you’re not?
To be a leader, it’s important to look like one.
Leadership is a combination of several things including what we’ve achieved, our level of competency, our skillset, our relationships and our image. Yes, our image! The way you look can influence the likelihood of you becoming a leader or even being considered for your next professional step-up.
Our appearance has more to do with our becoming a leader than you might think. There have been several studies* that show that even our facial features come into play when it comes to whether or not others see us as ‘leaders’. Studies show that those with strong facial features (think broad jawlines, as an example) are even paid more because they are seen as having stronger leadership skills (this is known as the ‘halo’ effect but more about that in another blog). Attractiveness is also a physical trait that will give you an advantage over others deemed not so attractive and in fact, attractive people are often paid more than their less attractive counterparts. It sounds criminal, but it’s true!
Of course there are other “soft power traits” that leaders need to have to be successful, such as authenticity, empathy, loyalty, patience, and passion - but if you have strong features and are considered to be attractive, you’ll be ahead of the game from the get-go, which can clearly be a significant advantage.
The good news is that we have more control over our physical attractiveness and perceived strength than we might think. We can curate our image, which is attributed largely by our appearance, to create visual strength and overall attractiveness. The more “put together” we are, and by that I mean everything gels beautifully; our grooming and our clothes are such that we exude confidence, the more attractive we will be in the sense that others will feel drawn to us and they will feel more comfortable around us. We will also be seen as having more positive traits which will have a positive impact on our overall attractiveness and strength. The clothes we wear, the colours and how we wear them can create visual illusion such as, for example, concealing a long skinny neck and using gthe right kind of collar to create the illusion of a shorter, broader neck and jawline, as well as helping us to appear more symmetrical (and the more symmetrical we appear, the more attractive we are).
If we look and feel like a leader, then that’s how others will see us. If conversely, our clothes aren’t the perfect fit or they’re dated, our clothes are In fact wearing us or they’re so bland we blend in with the background, then it’s almost guaranteed that we’ll be overlooked when it comes to being tapped for a more senior role, especially if there are other candidates who have their leadership look nailed.
If you have your eye on a senior position, especially a CEO role, knowing what looks great on you and investing in quality clothing is a must. Even if you’re not there yet, but your senior management aspirations are real, start thinking and behaving as if you are already doing that role which includes dressing as though you are.
It only takes a couple of signature pieces to give your confidence the boost it needs to transform you into a leader. If you know how to pull various pieces together in such a way that you have a number of different outfits that you can wear to the office and then have them on rotate so that you can mix and match different pieces for completely different looks, all as stunning as each other, then you can look like a leader without having to spend a fortune.
If you are a CEO or in any other leadership role, and you do wish to invest in clothing that not only expresses who you are and looks incredible on you, but is also unique which means you won’t find yourself sitting next to someone else wearing the same outfit, then engage a personal stylist who has relationships with a number of designers or fashion houses who source unique product or product from overseas to ensure what you wear is distinctive and you will definitely be seen as the VIP leader you are!
*Fruhen, L. S., Watkins, C. D., & Jones, B. C. (2015). Perceptions of facial dominance, trustworthiness and attractiveness predict managerial pay awards in experimental tasks. The Leadership Quarterly. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2015.07.001