Thought/Tip of the Week: Maybe Mom is Right

My mother has always tried to make me look nice. She permed my hair in kindergarten, plucked my eye brows in the 7th grade and sent me a letter in college about the importance of wearing lipstick. I fought her kicking and screaming the whole way. I thought her ideas were archaic and that she felt women had to look good to get what they want. But now as I’ve started to climb the corporate ladder I have been giving her efforts more thought. You have all heard the term “Dress for success” and ”Dress for the job you want”. Showing you care about your appearance can help others believe that you will care about their business, clients, product, etc. At one of my old offices there was a woman, we will call her Jennifer, who got promoted much faster than her colleagues, even though she didn’t have more experience. As it was one of my goals to move up the ranks quickly, I tried to figure out what she had done that others didn’t. And what I realized after about a week of observation is that Jennifer always looked great. Her clothes were conservative but you could tell there was a lot of thought put into each outfit. Her hair always looked neat and her make-up was simple, yet flawless. Jennifer didn’t get promoted because she looked better than her collogues who often looked disheveled and sloppy, but she did catch the eye of upper management who took a closer look at her work and saw she was ready for more responsibility. I would never suggest showing cleavage or wearing miniskirts to the office and neither would my mother! But dressing like you care about your job and about yourself is a good and totally modern idea for both men and women. So thanks Mom! I’m sorry it took about two decades to finally understand what you were saying. And you will be happy to know I wore lip gloss today ;)